


Wounds and Retrubution

by regulusluvies



Series: Regulus Black Redemption [1]
Category: Harry Potter - Fandom, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canonical Character Death, F/F, F/M, First War with Voldemort, M/M, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Not Canon Compliant, Post-First War with Voldemort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:54:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 71,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27877918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/regulusluvies/pseuds/regulusluvies
Summary: What if Regulus Black wasn’t cut off by his brother when he had nowhere else to go? What if he had someone that helped him gather the courage to get through the endless challenges of his life?
Relationships: Alice Longbottom/Frank Longbottom, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Marlene McKinnon/Dorcas Meadowes, Mary Macdonald/Emmeline Vance, Minerva McGonagall/Poppy Pomfrey, Regulus Black/OMC, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Series: Regulus Black Redemption [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2041158
Comments: 11
Kudos: 16





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own these characters, JK Rowling does. I do, however, hate her and her disgusting views, and if you agree with them, please stop reading, I don't want filthy people like that here. 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, it really means a lot to see people reading this!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick Intro (kinda):  
> This fic will primarily center around Regulus and an OMC, but the marauders and the other students from that age group will also be heavily involved.  
> Just a warning, actual relationship stuff probably won't start until some point in fourth year (so chapter nine, I think).  
> THIS IS A SLOW BURN, and I probably won't write much explicit stuff, and definitely not when they're minors. 
> 
> Some other quick notes: I hate writing character exposition, and especially for original characters, so the writing in this chapter is not great compared to my writing later on but tbh I lack the motivation to rewrite this so whatever. also sorry about the relative lack of marauders content in this chapter and the next; it'll increase a LOT during second year. 
> 
> IMPORTANT: As of 18 January, I honestly don't know where I'm going to go with this. I'm stuck at like halfway through fifth year, and I have a lot of plans, but I can't bring myself to write them. I'll update soon at some point, but I can't say when that'll be.

Seneca Locklear was annoyed. Actually, annoyed didn’t even begin to describe it. His Mom had been appointed as the MACUSA ambassador to Britain, and _right before_ he was supposed to leave for Ilvermorny with all his friends, his family left New York City behind and decided to move to grey and rainy London. He had asked his Dad if he could just go to school back in America during the school year, and come to England in the Summers and Holidays, but his parents refused to allow it.

On the other hand, his sister, Nadia, was nothing less than delighted. The entire plane ride (which by the way was absolutely horrendous, most magical Americans would only use the Amtrak trains for transport, if they had to use no-maj transportation at all), she babbled nonstop about ‘getting a British accent’ and ‘going to school in a castle’. Seneca could care less about school, he really just missed his friends. At least his Mom said he could go stay with his Grandparents in Arizona over the summer, so he may be able to see some people. However, one thing he would not miss would be his grandparents screaming at him in Navajo when he didn’t do his chores. 

When their plane finally landed in Heathrow, at 5am mind you, Seneca staggered out of the plane with his family and followed them to the check-in stations. 

His Mom, Irene, turned to his Dad with bleary eyes, “Where on _Earth_ is that stupid customs entrance”

His Dad, Nick, mumbled a response, and Irene glowered at him, before muttering about the PanAm coffee being shitty. 

“Reeny,” his Dad started, as Seneca rolled his eyes. He hated his parent’s pet names for each other. “I’m just checking the parchment the Ambassador’s Office gave us, they said something about the entrance being under a distractor spell, near the restrooms.”

“Nicky, _I swear to God_ if you do not speed up, I will pass out.” 

Nadia giggled and leaned against her Mom. Seneca had no idea how she and his Dad managed to fall asleep on the plane; he and his mom stayed awake the entire time, with not a moment of sleep. 

Nick turned around, and said with a note of excitement in his voice, “It’s right here, just follow me and they’ll give us our luggage.” Seneca and Irene grumbled and grabbed their carry-on bags, while Nadia skipped ahead; her long hair threatening to fall out of the bun her Mom had tied as the plane was landing.

As they walked up to what looked like a broom closet, Seneca pulled out his passport, glancing at the picture of himself. He looked nearly identical to his sister, with both of them having almond-shaped deep brown eyes, dotted with amber flecks, just like their hair (although Seneca's hair was cut short, and his sister’s went past her waist). The smattering of freckles across his straight nose and high cheekbones contrasted oddly with his tan skin in the bright lighting of the picture, making it look like he had a severe case of chickenpox isolated to a small portion of his face. He looked over at his Mom, with her more pale skin and dark hair, and his Dad, with his dark skin and lighter hair; both of them glancing around, making sure there weren’t any no-maj’s in the immediate area. 

Irene gripped his and Nadia’s wrists, and led them quickly through the doorway, as soon as the coast was clear. A small witch, half-goblin by the looks of it, waved them over to the desk in the small, albeit exquisitely decorated room. 

“Hello, I am Emilie, and I will be helping you today. If you would, please hand over your passports, and I shall send you through. As today is a tuesday, Floo Connections will be open to the Ministry, if that is your destination.” She said it with almost no inflections at all, which was quite unusual. 

After a couple minutes, a man brought them their luggage, and Emilie sent them through a door to a small room with a collection of fireplaces. Seneca and Nadia glanced up at their parents in confusion, wondering why there would be a room with nearly a dozen fireplaces in an airport. 

Nick sighed and explained how British wizards used the fireplaces as their floo network, unlike the closet-sized rooms that most North American wizards chose to use instead. Seneca personally thought it was a bit archaic, and wondered why people would want to duck down so low to fit inside the fireplace anyways. Irene shrugged and beckoned her children to follow her and Nick into one of the fireplaces. As they all gripped their luggage, Irene grabbed a fistfull of powder, threw it underneath them, and half-shouted “Ministry of Magic”. 

All of a sudden, Seneca felt the familiar twisting sensation of the floo network, reminding him of home just for a moment. They appeared in a shiny, black-tiled hall, with fireplaces lining the sides as far as the eye could see. There were hundreds of wizards crowding the hall, headed towards several staircases and elevator doors, and the arched entrance of what appeared to be an atrium, towards the end of the hall. Seneca wondered how these people could blend in with British no-maj’s or as they were called here, ‘muggles’. The majority of the wizards he saw were wearing patterns that physically pained Seneca, with mismatched jackets, ties, boots, and hats. Seneca saw multiple pastel bowler hats, and contemplated going back into the fireplace. 

Instead, Irene led them down a series of staircases and hallways, following the signs that said ‘Residence/Immigration Assistance’. Finally, they entered a medium-sized room, with a small, ancient-looking witch sitting at a desk. 

“Ah, Madame Locklear,” she said, with a voice that sounded like she had eaten sand for breakfast. Seneca wondered how she was still alive, and then felt guilty and tried to clear the negative thoughts from his head. She continued, smiling warmly at Seneca and Nadia (Seneca felt even more guilty) “We have already set up a temporary floo connection to your new residence, it will be disconnected by 4pm sharp.” The woman, who subsequently introduced herself as Matilda “But you can call me Tillie”, handed them a box of what she said were ‘necessary supplies’ for their new home. 

“Just say ‘Residence #872’ and you should be transported right there” Tillie said with another smile “The Ministry will be sending someone by this Afternoon to help register your home with the floo network, and provide any other assistance that you need.”

Irene thanked Tillie, and led her family into the fireplace at the opposite end of the room. As Seneca waved goodbye to Tillie, the ministry rapidly slipped away, and he appeared in a bright room. His mom swished her hand and the ash disappeared off of them, Seneca hoped that he would be as good at wandless magic as her one day. Almost as quickly as they arrived, Irene led them up to the bedrooms, and Nadia and Seneca promptly squabbled over who would get the largest one. Irene immediately went to sleep in the master bedroom, closing the door behind her and threatening to hex anyone who woke her up.

Over the rest of the afternoon, Seneca and Nadia explored the flat, which appeared to be roughly triple the size of their apartment in the Bronx. The flat was spread out over two floors rather than one. It seemed fairly old, with lots of wood accents and art deco furnishings, decorated with elegant designs. The ceilings were higher than they appeared to be from the outside view on the balcony, and Nick informed the kids that the rooms were charmed to be larger than the space that was available to no-maj’s. There were five bedrooms and four bathrooms upstairs, and a dining room, living room, kitchen, office, and entry room on the main floor. 

When it was lunchtime, Nick took the kids out to explore the neighborhood, which was apparently named West Hampstead. They stopped to pick up some groceries and something called ‘fish and chips’. When they opened the boxes on the balcony, Seneca realized that chips meant fries. It was actually way better than he thought it would be, although it was pretty greasy. 

Seneca eventually claimed the room that faced the garden, with the window seat. This was mostly because Nadia argued that he would be leaving for Hogwarts in a month, so he didn’t need a large room, and Seneca had to agree. His dad changed the paint colors with his wand, making the room a light green, just like Seneca’s old room back in America. Seneca began to empty his items from his space-charmed suitcase, and used the transfiguration tool (as he wasn’t allowed a wand) to transfigure the furniture back to its normal sizes. He pushed his bed up against one wall, and positioned his bookcase and dresser against the other, then put up some posters and put his belongings back in their respective places.

Hours later, he heard a noise from the fireplace, and then his Mom walking down the creaky staircase. He followed her down, with Nadia close behind. A woman with brown skin and wavy, dark hair was speaking to his parents. Irene turned around, introducing Seneca and Nadia;  
“Euphemia, these are my children, Seneca and Nadia”

Seneca and Nadia responded out of habit, “Hi, nice to meet you”

The Woman responded, “Hullo, my name is Euphemia, it’s very nice to meet you as well.” She turned to Seneca, “My Son is in the same year as you at Hogwarts, you may get to know him this year!”

She smiled very warmly at them, and Seneca couldn’t help but smile back, “I hope so”. 

Euphemia turned back to Irene, “Alright, so first, we need you to choose a name for your home, and then I can register it. After that, we can set up the owl roost on your balcony.”

Nick glanced around, and said, “I was thinking Claremont Place, after the park at home, is everyone okay with that?”

After they expressed their agreement, Euphemia wrote something on her parchment, and the fireplace flashed green. “Good to go”, she said. 

She then followed Irene outside, and took out a small platform that she magically bound to the railing. It had a small box and two bowls attached. 

Euphemia explained “This should serve as your post roost, I’m sure you have these over in the states,” Irene nodded “It’s your choice to fill the food and water bowls, but I would strongly recommend you to do so, as it pleases the owls.”

After a quick conversation over tea and coffee in the kitchen, and the signing of a few more documents, Euphemia had to leave, saying goodbye to everyone, but not before inviting the Locklears over to her home for dinner the next evening. Irene ended up having to leave as well, taking the floo to the MACUSA office in the Ministry Headquarters. 

The next day, Nick took the kids to a no-maj shopping district near Chinatown to buy them some ‘proper English clothes’. They then stopped for lunch by the tube station back in West Hampstead, and came by the store again to pick up some more groceries that they had missed the day before. When they arrived at home, Irene had left some food out, and a note that she had to go back down to the office. After eating, Seneca went up to his room to read for a bit, and to pick out an outfit for the evening. 

When the time came, Irene barged into Seneca’s room, frustrated that he hadn’t heard her calling him. Nadia and Nick were already standing by the fireplace in the living room, and as soon as Irene and Seneca came over, Nick said “Potter Manor”, and they were transported to a massive room in what appeared to be a massive house. 

Euphemia and a taller man, with tan skin and wild dark hair, who was introduced as Fleamont, were waiting for them when they entered. Nick and Fleamont shook hands, and Irene and Euphemia briefly embraced. Euphemia beckoned for them to follow her, leading to a smaller, more cozy kitchen. 

“Please sit down, Fleamont can go fetch James,” she said, eyeing her husband, “And I can get some appetizers out of the fridge.”

Fleamont pecked her cheek and she smiled. He then left the room, heading towards what Seneca assumed was James’ room. 

Irene, Nick, and Euphemia quickly settled into conversation as Nadia and Seneca sat at the small table, trying different cheeses from the platter Euphemia had levitated out of the fridge. 

Fleamont reentered the kitchen, heading over to the counter with the other adults. A boy with even wilder black hair, tan skin, and glasses followed behind him. As he waved and started walking towards Seneca and Nadia, Seneca realized that he was _tall_. Not that Seneca was short, he was above-average height for his age, but this boy was at least four inches taller than him. 

“Hi, I’m James!” He said, a bit over-excitedly.

Seneca responded tentatively, “Hello, I’m Seneca, and this is my sister Nadia.” 

James walked towards a doorway on the other side of the room, and right as Seneca was about to ask where he was going, he turned around, “Oi, come on mate, bring your sister too!” Seneca almost laughed at the words he used, but then remembered that American English, and especially his Bronx accent, was probably just as funny to James. 

Seneca and Nadia followed the boy into the same massive living room they had entered, and they all sat down on one of the couches.

“So, mate,” James started, as Seneca once again found his use of the word ‘mate’ amusing, “What house do you think you’ll be in?”

“Well at Ilvermorny, I was pretty sure I would be in Horned Serpent, so I guess Slytherin or Ravenclaw,” James made a face at the mention of Slytherin, “but honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if I get into a different house”

“Well you’re not nice, so you wouldn’t get into Hufflepuff.” Nadia interjected, and Seneca flicked her leg. 

“I don’t think you’d want to be in Slytherin. ‘S full of bloody purists and arseholes,” Nadia gasped at the curse. After glaring at Nadia, Seneca cocked his head and asked;

“What’re purists?”

James stared. “Are there not blood purists in America?”

“Oh… we have those but it’s really unusual and there’s a ton of legislation against discrimination on blood status. MACUSA has actually has had discrimination protections on that since like the 40’s. Racism and sexism are much bigger problems there, but its not nearly as bad in as in no-maj society," James looked like he wanted to say something "American wizards tend to be wayyyy more progressive than our no-maj-”

“Muggle” James interjected, then blushed.

“Yeah, sorry,” Seneca said, and laughed, “But yeah, American ‘muggles’ are pretty behind - at least socially.” 

With a smile, Seneca continued, “Judging from your reaction I think Slytherin would not be the house for me. My Dad is actually a muggleborn, so I think I’ll keep that a secret if the prejudice is really that bad.”

“Mate, your vocabulary is so good, you’d probably be in Ravenclaw” James grinned, then continued. He puffed out his chest as he said “I’ll probably be in Gryffindor, y’know being all brave and stuff.”

“What about you?” he asked, turning to Nadia

Nadia was about to talk, but Seneca cut her off; “Probably in Slytherin. She’s pretty mean.”

Nadia punched him, and quickly said “I want to be in Gryffindor. Hogwarts seems so cool, and it would be fun to be on the Quidditch team.”

“That’s brilliant. Same aspirations as me” James said, laughing.

Seneca briefly zoned out, and heard his parents laughing and talking, their accents contrasting so clearly against the Potter’s. 

“Seneca,” Nadia said, pinching his arm. 

Seneca looked back at James, embarrassed. 

“So when are you going to Diagon Alley?” James questioned.

“What’s that?” Nadia and Seneca asked in unison.

James gaped. “Seriously? I mean I guess it makes sense since you just moved here, but Diagon alley is the main wizarding shopping district in London. Of course, there are several others, and two other alleys attached to Diagon Alley, but it’s by far the most famous. Most of the school supplies are there, and Gringotts.”

“Oh, we had something like that in the Bronx, but it was pretty small. There was a huge one in Lower Manhattan, called Washington Square. It occupied the same space as a no-maj - I mean muggle - park, but when a witch or wizard enters, they get transported like an outdoor market type thing with a couple buildings. But like it’s also in the same space? I don’t know how it works, but it’s been there for centuries. I used to go there with my family on the weekends after going to ‘muggle’ school.”

“YOU WENT TO MUGGLE SCHOOL?” James near-shouted “I mean.. Sorry, I just haven’t met anyone that’s like.. done that before.”

Seneca and Nadia Laughed, and Seneca explained how it was actually quite normal in the US and Canada, and certain regions of Mexico, to go to muggle school until you were of age to go to magical school. He mentioned how it was actually the main reason for many of the anti-discrimination laws in MACUSA and Magical Canada and Mexico. 

James was baffled at this, having almost no interactions with muggle kids his age. 

“You should meet my best mate, Peter Pettigrew. He would quite like you.”

“Thanks”

Nadia quickly started talking, annoyed at how little she had been able to speak. “Okay, but how do I get on the Quidditch team?”

“First of all, you have to be a second year, and then you have to pass the tryouts.”  
“How many people am I competing against?”

“Well with about two thousand people at Hogwarts, and very few that try out for Quidditch, not many.”

Now it was Seneca and Nadia’s turn to be surprised “Only two thousand?” Seneca asked, in disbelief.

“Is that not a lot?” James asked, oblivious.

“Compared to Ilverymorny, definitely. Ilvermorny serves most of the Atlantic Coast and Midwest, really just everything west of the Rocky Mountains, so there are almost eleven thousand students I think. Well, Maston Institute on the west coast has 2,000, so I guess it’s not that weird.”

“Eleven thousand? Bollocks, that’s a lot.”

“I guess, yeah. My family has been going there for generations, but I do have some cousins that go to Maston Institute on my mom’s side. Even though my dad’s relatives are muggles, they’ve still gone to some pretty good universities. My oldest cousin went to Yale I think.”

“Yale?” James asked.

“It’s a really famous muggle university in Connecticut. Does sciency stuff I think.” Nadia said. 

James looked like he was about to say something, but they were interrupted by Fleamont calling them into dinner, “Beta, come and bring your friends. We’ve ordered Italian.”

“Beta?” Seneca asked.

“Hindu name for son” James quickly explained, smiling. 

James came into the kitchen and leaned against Euphemia. Even though he was only eleven, he was the same height as her. “Do we have pudding tonight Mum?”

Seneca scrunched his eyebrows, wondering why James was so specific.

When Euphemia responded by saying apple tart, Seneca was even more confused. Irene, seeing his face, said “Pudding is an English word for dessert”.

Seneca blushed and followed James and Euphemia into the dining room, on the other side of the kitchen. There were already plates set out with what looked like pretty decent Italian food. 

Having grown up in New York, the Locklears were skeptical at first, but found it to be quite good. Perks of living in Europe, they assumed. 

After dinner and ‘Pudding’, the Locklears took the floo home, but not before scheduling a meet-up in Diagon Alley for school supplies the next Friday, just before term started. 

The following week passed fairly quickly, with Irene frequently out of the house, and Nick inquiring for a position in the Ministry’s Department of Magical Creatures, as he had worked at the MACUSA equivalent in America. Nadia was registered at the local no-maj school, and seemed to have already made neighborhood friends, although Seneca had no idea how. She would only be there for a year anyways. Seneca spent the time reading, and had James over once, but overall spent a lot of time at home. He missed his friends and Grandparents, and hoped they could come to London for the Winter Holidays. Before he knew it, Friday had come around, and the family, minus Irene, flooed to Diagon Alley. They met up with Fleamont and James, as Euphemia was out registering a new family, and closing off several floo connections. 

James and Seneca wandered around, ducking into several stores, before their dads and Nadia caught up with them. James’ friend Peter showed up at one point, and it was a bit awkward, but Seneca wasn’t too bothered. After they had gotten their robes and books, James and Peter went to get Ice Cream and head home, as they already had owls and wands. Seneca had just turned eleven, so he was only now able to get his wand. After begging for what seemed like an hour, Nick bought Seneca a beautiful silver bengal cat from the pet store, whom he promptly named Maya. After that, he, Nick, and Nadia walked over to the wand store, Ollivander’s. 

After running ahead and stepping inside, Seneca briefly looked back for his dad and sister, and accidentally bumped into someone in the process. He turned around and quickly apologized, seeing a girl that looked about the same age as him, with fiery red hair and bright green eyes.

“I’m Seneca, what’s your name?” He asked, still feeling guilty. 

She laughed “It’s okay, my name is Lily. I don’t mean to be rude, but are you American? Your accent sounds American, but kinda…” she trailed off. 

“Oh, I’m from the Bronx.” She raised an eyebrow.

Seneca smiled, explaining “It’s a borough in New York City. Pretty distinctive accent. Are you also going to Hogwarts this year?"

"I received my letter a couple weeks ago." She smiled. 

He noticed two nervous-looking adults behind her, one with black hair and one with red hair. He also saw a much younger girl with an unusually long neck and black hair standing between them. He waved.

“Are those your parents?” 

“Yeah, and my sister. They’re ‘muggles’” She said, making a face at the word. 

“It's annoying for me to use that word too, in America we call them no-majs, means no-magicals" he said.   
She laughed, “At least that one makes sense.”

“Yeah, definitely,” He said, before lowering his voice. “I would be careful though, apparently people here are really prejudiced against muggleborns, so I don't know if it would be a good idea to just tell everyone your, um, 'blood-status'. I find it really stupid, and it’s not like America doesn’t have problems like this, because we most definitely do, but it’s not as present, at least in the magical community. Can’t say the same about the muggles though.” He rambled kind of quickly. Lily looked a bit sad for a second, but said that she had heard about it, but she had hoped it wasn’t that much of a problem.

Changing the subject, she said, “How do you use so many words? Like, not that I don’t understand them,” she said with a smile, “but I don’t know many eleven year olds that talk like that.” 

Normally, Seneca would’ve been annoyed, but he could tell she meant well. “Most of my relatives on my dad’s side are either teachers or went to prestigious colleges, so I’ve been around people with vocabularies like that my whole life. And when I went to Muggle School I was in accelerated classes.” When she looked confused, he said “In North America it’s pretty normal to go to Muggle School until you’re old enough to go to a magical school.”

“That’s cool, the teacher I met with said that it's very unusual for wizards to go to muggle school. Would you like to look for wands with me?”

“Sure. By the way, that’s my Dad and Sister.” Lily looked over in surprise, as a near-copy of Seneca, but with much longer hair walked in, accompanied by a man with shoulder-length brown hair and tan skin. 

“She looks _just_ like you”

“Yeah a lot of people say that.” Seneca turned to his Dad “Hi Dad, this is Lily” Lily smiled and introduced herself, “I’m going to go look at wands with her, if that’s okay.”

Nick nodded and turned to introduce himself to Lily’s parents as the two soon-to-be students and Nadia walked towards the wands. 

“Lily, this is Nadia.”

“Hi Lily!” Nadia said and waved, Lily greeted her back. 

They all walked over to talk to Mr. Ollivander, Nadia closely trailing behind. Following a hectic process of holding random wands, Lily was given a 10¼ inch willow wand, although she didn’t mention the core. After trying different wands for what felt like an hour, Ollivander and Seneca were sufficiently satisfied with a 14¼ Blackthorn wand with a phoenix feather core. Nadia, and eventually, Lily’s sister Petunia, watched the whole ordeal with shining eyes. After the Locklears and Evanses paid for their wands, they walked down to Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. Nick continued to talk to the Evanses about life back in America, tactfully avoiding the topic of the wizarding world, of which they seemed to be somewhat afraid. After explaining the house concept to Lily, she exclaimed that she would hope to be in either Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. Seneca and Lily talked for a while about how they thought Hogwarts was going to be, while Petunia and Nadia went over to the pet store to look at the animals. 

“Do you know anyone else that’s like .. magical?” Seneca asked

“Well, my neighbor is, his name is Severus.”

“Oh, cool. I had dinner at my Mom’s coworker’s house last week and kind of made a friend, he’s actually in our year. Name’s James.”

“Oh I think I saw him! Was he the bloke you were with earlier? Him and the short blonde boy that came later?”  
“Yeah, he was. He’s pretty nice but a bit loud. Says he wants to be in Gryffindor.”

“Maybe I’ll get to know him” Lily said, finishing her Ice Cream. 

Nick checked his watch, and after seeing that it was nearly 4pm, called Nadia and Seneca over to leave. The Locklears said goodbye to the Evanses, who were taking no-maj transit back to their home just outside of London. 

After a rushed weekend of helping Nadia start school, packing his new trunks, and spending time with Maya, September 1st had already come around. Seneca woke up significantly later than he wanted to, at 9am. He was immediately thrown into a panic, and had arrived downstairs completely ready within ten minutes. His Mom was still reading the New York Times, which she had gotten shipped by Owl (Intercontinental Owls use vanishing cabinets to send items). Seneca stared at her, “Mom, I need to be at the station in less than two hours??”

“Ok? That’s plenty of time. Your father isn’t even awake yet and your sister is already at school.”

“What about my things?”

“They’re by the entrance hall. We can take a cab at 10.”  
Seneca was rattled, but decided to brush it off. It was probably less of a problem than he thought it was. He walked over to the cupboard and started breakfast.

Before too long, he was standing in the foyer, shaking with fear and apprehension, as his dad tried to be ‘funny’ and take forever to pour his coffee. 

“DAD.” Seneca said, glaring at him. 

Nick smirked and finally walked into the foyer, taking Irene’s hand, “The cab should be pulling up out front now.”  
“It’s been here for ten minutes.” Seneca said with a dead voice and withering stare.

Arriving at the station at 10:30 sharp, Seneca practically dragged his parents to platform 9¾, while pushing his cart. Maya stared at passersby from her carrier, with multiple no-majs commenting on how beautiful she was. After passing through the barrier, which by the way, Seneca thought, was an incredibly odd way to hide the train platform, they ran into the Evanses, minus Petunia (‘She’s at school’, Lily Said). Lily was accompanied by a rather hideous looking child with greasy hair and an unfortunately large nose. Seneca chose to ignore the child’s blatant glares, preferring to not get in a fight on the first day of school.

After tearful goodbyes and hugs between both sets of parents and their children (minus the greasy rat, as Seneca decided to call him), the children boarded the train. Seneca didn’t see James, or Peter for that matter, but decided to ignore it. He, Lily, and the boy, whom he had learned was named Severus, sat down in a cabin towards the front of the train, waving goodbye to their parents. Several minutes later, two girls, who introduced themselves as Marlene McKinnon and Dorcas Meadowes, asked to sit with them. Lily immediately said “Of course!”, but Seneca did not miss the venomous glare Severus gave them. Again, he chose to ignore it.

After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Lily spoke; “I love your braids Dorcas, they’re so pretty.”

Dorcas blushed and explained that they were called butterfly locs, and that her mom had done them for her. “Your hair is so pretty too Lily” Dorcas said with a smile. After that, they all began to talk about what house they wanted to be in, with the two other girls expressing their interest in Gryffindor. Severus’ face proceeded to get even more nasty, which seemed impossible. Towards the end, when Severus said something about Slytherin being the best house, everyone got very quiet. Dorcas glared at Severus, and Marlene looked down at her book. Lily quickly broke the silence (it seemed she was good at doing that). 

When they disembarked the train, after having changed into their school robes, the first year students were led to docks by the shores of a dark lake. Seneca stared in wonder at the incredibly large stone castle that occupied the opposite side of the water. Spread out across several cliffs, it was a mass of turrets, gables, halls, and various other edifices. When they were told they had to split into groups of four, Dorcas and Marlene went to sit in a boat with two other girls named Mary and Alice. Seneca spotted James and Peter already in a boat with two other boys, one with pale skin and medium-length black hair, and another one with slightly less pale skin and tawny curls. Seneca didn’t miss the scars on his face, but didn’t think much of it. When he looked back, he, Lily, and Severus had been joined by a girl with light skin and a brunette bob cut named Emmeline. Their boat was one of the last to leave, although they were right behind Marlene and Dorcas’ boat. The boats seemed to magically row themselves across the lake, and then into a small cave, where the young students climbed up a steep staircase towards the castle. Seneca saw about 150 kids, which was far less than the roughly 1,500 per grade at Ilvermorny. The difference was staggering, but he didn’t have a chance to think about a possible reason for it. Before long, he and his new friends were escorted up to a large hallway, where a woman with brown hair tied back into a severe bun greeted them. She introduced herself as ‘Professor McGonagall, your transfiguration teacher’. She beckoned for them to follow her, and they walked into a massive hall. Seneca looked up and his eyes widened as he saw a beautiful night sky above him. There appeared to be roughly one hundred small circular tables spread throughout the hall, although they varied greatly in size, and some were more oval-like than circular. 

Seneca was snapped back to reality when McGonagall commenced the sorting ceremony. Before too long, the boy James and Peter had been sitting with, whose name Seneca learned was Sirius Black, was sorted into Gryffindor, to what appeared to be the great displeasure of the crowd. Seneca didn’t understand why. Not long after, Lily and Alice were both sorted into Gryffindor. Roughly twenty students later, Seneca was called up. 

Determined to not let his nerves get the best of him, he walked up to the seat and sat down. McGonagall placed the hat on his head, and Seneca reckoned that he should check for lice later; the whole hat-sharing concept didn’t seem sanitary to him. All of a sudden, he heard an ancient-sounding voice in his head, which he realized was that of the hat.

It muttered something about different houses before saying, “ _You know, you would do well in any_ _house_."

The hat paused, and then continued, " _Ravenclaw and Slytherin seem to be the best fit._ ” 

“ _Not Slytherin._ ” Seneca thought. “ _I don’t want to be with a gaggle of prejudiced assholes_ ”

“ _Hmm, that vocabulary inclines me towards Gryffindor_ ” Seneca heard more muttering, and became aware of an intrusive feeling in his head. He realized the hat was probing his memories, which made him incredibly uncomfortable. 

After what seemed like ages, the hat called out “ _RAVENCLAW!_ ”

Seneca heard scattered clapping, and went to sit with Lily and Alice, and that boy named Sirius, in a table closer towards the Gryffindor banners.

Lily stared at him; “You were up there for nearly twice as long as everyone else”

Seneca flushed “Really? I didn’t notice”

She smiled, and introduced him to Sirius. Seneca could tell that although he was putting up a tough exterior, he was very afraid, which was odd. 

Before too long, Marlene, Dorcas, Mary, James, Peter, and the other boy, whose name Seneca had learnt was Remus, were sorted into Gryffindor and sat with them. Severus was almost immediately sorted into Slytherin, and glared at the entire table, save Lily, before purposefully walking past them towards a large table that was almost entirely occupied by Slytherins. Emmeline was sorted into Ravenclaw, and after she stood up and nervously looked around for a table, Seneca waved her over. They all introduced themselves, and Remus was particularly interested in his accent. Seneca realized that he and Remus were the only other people with Non-English accents, with Seneca’s Bronx accent (which he had to explain numerous times), and Remus’ welsh accent. Mary appeared to be incredibly funny, and had already hit it off with Marlene and Dorcas. Peter was painfully shy, and really only spoke to James, aside from introducing himself. Sirius was quiet for much of the remaining portion of the sorting ceremony, instead avoiding the stares of the larger Slytherin table. Alice appeared to be very nice, and they were joined by someone named Frank Longbottom, who said that he knew Alice from their hometown. Frank was also a Gryffindor, and Seneca and Emmeline joked that they were 'in the Lion’s Den'. 

Their discussion was interrupted when a man with a long, silver beard and the strangest clothes Seneca had ever seen entered the hall and sat at the middle of the staff table, at the end of the hall opposite the doors. He clinked a spoon on his glass, and everyone immediately silenced. “Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet…” he proceeded to intersperse important information with several sentences that made absolutely no sense. 

“Is he crazy?” Mary asked.

“Kinda,” James said.

Once the man, who Seneca now knew was named Dumbledore, was done speaking, food magically appeared on their plates. Seneca pushed away his misgivings about Hogwarts and England, as the conversations in the hall lulled back into full swing. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I visualize all the (canon) characters like they appear in upthehillart on Instagram (you should check them out if you haven’t already, their art is so cool). I don’t really want to include art of Seneca or Nadia, so feel free to imagine them along their descriptions!  
> This is my first fic, so sorry about my grammar and dialogue, it’s kinda shitty.  
> IMPORTANT:  
> \+ please correct me if I make any mistakes or inaccuracies.  
> \+ I’m not British, so my dialogue most certainly does not sound British. The only experience I have there was when I went to London for a month in 2016, so if you have any recommendations or corrections, please let me know in the comments! I’m going to try to make Seneca’s narration more and more British as the story goes on, as he will develop an accent.  
> Sorry I wasn’t able to introduce Regulus this chapter, he probably won’t show up (aside from mentions) until second year.  
> Also, I’m going by the description (in the books I think) where the great hall is a bunch of smaller tables, not four long tables, so it's normal to sit with members of other houses, and the true size of the school is way more plausible.  
> One more important note! I couldn’t find any canon sources that said which house Emmeline was in, so I put her in Ravenclaw.  
> Anyways, thank you so much for reading this, and I will try to read & respond to every comment, it makes me so happy to see people interacting with my work!  
> Have a nice day, do good today!


	2. First Year

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First year at Hogwarts, with new friendships and events. Follow our favorite Ravenclaws and Gryffindors as they get used to their new school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first chapter took surprisingly less time than I thought it would, so I should definitely be able to update at least weekly. Anyways, this chapter shouldn’t be too long, as 3rd, 4th, and 5th year will be. 2nd year will be a bit longer, but 6th and 7th years will be split into two and three parts respectively (at least if my current plan stays consistent). I plan to upload the first three chapters today, but I don’t know if that will happen.  
> One last thing: I saw some really cool art of the Ravenclaw common room, so I’m describing it (kind of) the way it is in this picture; https://indreams.me/dream/mjjPigRdJPQ

**TW: Implied Abuse**

After the feast had ended, Seneca and Emmeline followed their head of house, Professor Flitwick, to the Ravenclaw Dormitory. They climbed at least seven flights of stairs before arriving at the final one, a skinny stone spiral staircase at the end of a hallway. Each student went up in pairs, with Flitwick leading the way. Before they went up, he explained that in order to enter, they had to answer a riddle, and that if they answered incorrectly, they would have to wait for someone else to give the correct answer to enter. 

Seneca went up with Emmeline and walked into a large, open room, with several balconies. There were three levels, each with balconies overlooking a main seating area. There was a ceiling overhead that was charmed like the one in the great hall, except it showed the constellations in clear detail. The walls were lined with bookcases that were interrupted every ten or so feet with a door, which Seneca learned were the entrances to the actual dorms. The entire room was accented with blue and bronze, the house colors. 

He looked towards Emmeline, wondering what they were going to do, and she shrugged. They walked over towards Flitwick and the other first years, who were chatting amongst themselves. When the last first years and the prefect that had been helping them entered the dorm, Flitwick cleared his throat and stepped onto a stool, “Good evening, good evening! Welcome to Ravenclaw! As you know, you have been sorted into the house of intelligence and wisdom. Do not think this makes you better than others; selfish and rude behavior is not tolerated. We have not had any ‘incidents’ in Ravenclaw in four years, and I intend for it to stay that way. Anyways! Onto some more exciting things…” Flitwick continued to discuss all the opportunities and important dates for the Ravenclaws, but Seneca only half-listened, instead absorbing the amazing room around him. 

All of a sudden, he heard Flitwick directing “-First year boys, follow Mr. Smith. First year girls, follow Ms. Karim.” Seneca waved goodbye to Emmeline as she joined the other first year girls. He followed the roughly ten boys upstairs. “And here are the two dorm rooms,” Smith said, pointing to two open doors with six beds in each. Seneca was slightly confused. Shouldn’t there have been at least 8 beds in each, if there were 150 students. Before he had a chance, a boy with red hair spoke up; “Shouldn’t there be more beds than that? Like if there are 150 first-years?”

Smith glanced at him, “O’Leary” The boy nodded “Ravenclaw only has 24 students this year. Hufflepuff is the largest house and had almost fifty this year.” Seneca raised his eyebrow. 

Smith began to read off a list, dividing them between the two rooms. Seneca realized that their possessions were already next to their respective beds. 

By the end of the night, Seneca was put in a room with four quiet boys and O’Leary, who he had learned was named Charley. Seneca let Maya out of her cage, and she immediately went to sleep under his bed. While he was putting his clothes and textbooks in his dresser, he was forced to listen to Charley babble on and on about how smart his parents said he was. 

‘Maybe I should’ve gone for Gryffindor’ Seneca thought, as he fell asleep. 

The next morning, he woke fairly early, and slowly showered and changed before going to the common room. He found Emmeline on the couch, petting Maya. “Nice cat,” she said. Seneca grunted in response. It was too early to be awake. When the clock struck 8:00, they were allowed to go down to breakfast, so he, Emmeline, and the dozen or so other students that were also awake made the trek down to the great hall. As it turned out, they were the first to arrive, which wasn’t that much of a surprise. Soon after, some of the Gryffindors started to filter in; James and Sirius were apparently still asleep. Lily had her attention on Severus, on the other side of the hall. She waved for him to come over, but he vehemently shook his head no. Seneca involuntarily rolled his eyes. He didn’t get what his problem was. Choosing to ignore it, Seneca started talking with Remus. 

“Hey, where are you from?” Seneca knew he was from Wales but he didn’t want to seem all-knowing, especially as Remus hadn’t informed them. 

“Wales. Swansea actually. What about you?” He asked with a smile, then realized that Seneca had already told them “Wait, you already told us. The Bronx, right?”

“Yeah, but my parents are from Arizona.”

Remus cocked his head.

“It’s a southwestern state. Borders California and Mexico. The biggest city is Phoenix, if you’ve heard of it.”

Remus shook his head, but responded “That sounds cool though. The only other country I’ve been to is France but it was only to Normandy. Why did you move here though?” He blushed “If you don’t mind me asking of course.”

“No problem, honestly. My Mom’s the MACUSA ambassador to the Ministry, so we got relocated here. My parents wanted me to be close by, so they sent me here instead of Ilvermorny.”

“What d’you think of England so far?”

Seneca laughed “Well, it’s cold and cloudy all the time. It feels a lot like New York though, but also kind of like Boston. The accents are going to take some getting used to, but I like it here a lot more than I thought I would.”

Remus smiled then looked at his plate, “How do we get out food though” He pointed to tables with older students that already had breakfast on their plates.

“Tap your plate with the fork.” James said, sitting down next to Remus “I Read it in Hogwarts: A History.”

“Since when do you read?” Peter asked, half-joking and half-serious.

“Shaddup Pete” James said, lightly smacking Peter as he laughed.

“Like this?” Emmeline said, as she tapped her spoon on her plate, and a full English Breakfast appeared “oh”

Lily giggled and did the same, and then so did everyone else. Luckily it appeared that the breakfasts were tailored to one’s own tastes, so Seneca was instead treated to pancakes and fruit.

“No English breakfast for you mate?” James said, grinning with a mouth full of food.

“Close your mouth James.” Lily said. James blushed in response. 

“Beans, mushrooms, AND tomatoes are not my idea of a good breakfast.” Seneca said. James clutched his chest in mock-horror.

“Oi, I think they’re handing out the schedules soon.” Said Mary, just now arriving with Alice.

“Where were you?” Lily asked.

“There was an issue in the other dorm’s bathroom” Alice said with a smile “Shower head popped off.”

Lily gasped and covered her mouth. McGonagall clinked her spoon on her glass, and although it took a bit longer than it did the night before, everyone got quiet. 

“Schedules will be handed out now. Do not lose yours, and take care to be on time to the _first lessons of the year_.” She quipped, staring particularly at a large Gryffindor table. 

“If only we could be the object of that attention next year..” James fake-sighed. Sirius grinned for the first time that morning, and started whispering with James. 

All of a sudden, papers appeared on the tables. After checking with everyone else, they realized that to their luck, the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws had most of their classes together, with the exception of DADA and Potions. The class bell rang not soon after, and the whole table got up and started walking towards Transfiguration. As they walked, Seneca briefly wondered why they were all sitting together. Lily and James certainly did not get along, and it wasn’t like anyone was particularly close with each other, save James and Peter. At least Severus wasn’t sitting with them, Seneca thought as he entered the classroom. He sat down at a desk near the front, with Lily on his right and Remus on his left. McGonagall swiftly walked down the center aisle, taking a seat at her desk. She proceeded to give a lengthy speech on the importances and difficulties of transfiguration, and finished it off with “-You will learn a lot, or you will not learn at all. That choice is up to you.”

Although she was a bit harsh, Seneca didn’t dislike her. He knew his mom would love her, and he was excited to learn transfiguration. 

After attempting to teach them to change the color of a piece of paper (only Remus, Lily, Seneca, Emmeline, and two other Ravenclaws succeeded), the group walked to Herbology. Professor sprout reminded Seneca of his Grandma, and although most of the plants he attempted to take care of ended up dying, her classes sounded really fun. She let them explore the level one greenhouses and ask her questions about any plant. Mary and Alice were particularly interested, peppering Sprout with constant inquiries.

The rest of the day passed by in a blur. Potions was actually kind of fun, and his mom was one of the most accomplished potions students at Ilvermorny, so Seneca hoped he could live up to her legacy. He and Emmeline stuck close together in that class, as it was with the Slytherins, and although Ravenclaws and Slytherins tended to get along, it was better to avoid them. 

After Potions, they had Care of Magical Creatures and then Astronomy. CMC wasn’t horrible, but after his Dad’s constant discussions of the creatures he studied and took care of, Seneca couldn’t stand to be in that class longer than fifteen minutes. It’s not that he was bad at it, because he was actually pretty good, but it was just so boring. Astronomy was fairly interesting, but frankly, Seneca found the muggle version of Astronomy he had taken in America far more engaging. 

After a heavy dinner, Emmeline and Seneca exhaustedly trudged up the stairs, and were able to get into the dorm without answering the riddle. Some of the older students looked down on them in disdain, but Seneca brushed it off. It was smarter to get what he wanted faster than it was to flaunt his intelligence. 

His other classes the next day were fairly interesting, and he parterend with Lily in charms. They were the first group to levitate their feather, and beat the second best pair by over thirty seconds. Flitwick was very proud, and gave ten points to both Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. After Charms, Seneca and Emmeline walked down to DADA, which they had with the hufflepuffs. It seemed like a fun class, and he and Emmeline wouldn’t have to avoid the other students, which was a relief. History of Magic was incredibly boring, and the teacher introduced himself as having taught there for centuries. Seneca wondered if anyone had realized when he died, as he acted like a corpse the entire time. Flying lessons were next, and Seneca was actually fairly good at it. His Dad had taken him on his broom several times in Arizona and the Catskills, so he had at least some experience. He noticed that the only people as good, or at least on par with him, were Sirius, James, and Marlene. James was almost better than Seneca’s Dad himself, and Seneca silently wondered how he had grown to be so good. 

That evening, Seneca made sure to write a long note to his parents and sister about how amazing school was. He hoped they wouldn’t tease him for having his pessimistic outlook shattered. Luckily, he didn’t have to walk to the Owlery, as Emmeline just let him use her owl, Caro. 

September and October passed uneventfully, with little interruption. The classes got progressively harder as the weeks went along, and Seneca found himself studying in the library late most Sunday nights with Lily and Remus. It seemed like their larger friend group was coalescing into several overlapping circles, with Peter, Sirius, James and Remus appearing to grow very close, although Remus had left twice now to go visit his ailing Mom. Dorcas, Marlene, Mary, Alice, and Lily had also become tightly-knit, and Frank would alternate spending time with them and the other Gryffindor boys. Seneca himself had gotten very close with Emmeline, Lily, and Remus, and paired up with them for group projects several times. 

He found that Herbology, Charms, and Potions came very naturally to him, and his parents were very proud. His dad was less proud about Seneca’s disinterest in CMC, although they didn’t particularly care that he didn’t like Astronomy or History of Magic. They said to try for good grades, or rather ‘good marks’. His mom did mention something about trying to do well in DADA, ‘considering recent developments across Europe, and Britain especially’, but he chose not to dwell on it.

Halloween sprung on them rather quickly, and Seneca wasn’t surprised that the traditions here were kind of different. He did miss trick-or-treating at home, but the halloween feast sounded fun, and McGonagall had them transfigure spiders into candied apples, and then back. Seneca and Emmeline were the only people to completely achieve the transfiguration, although Lily and Remus were fairly close. McGonagall gave twenty points to Ravenclaw, but her relatively happy mood faltered when she saw Peter’s apple-shaped spider. When it rolled over and caramel oozed out of the pincers, she pursed her lips and finished the transfiguration. 

The Halloween feast was quite fun, and Emmeline and Seneca got permission to spend the evening in the Gryffindor common room with their friends. James was quite sad about missing Diwali, but “It makes up for it by being here”. On the way back, Emmeline screamed and Seneca almost fainted at the sight of the bloody baron appearing randomly around a corner, staring at them. They both vowed to never speak of the incident and took the long way back to Ravenclaw Tower.

Like the previous months, classes got progressively harder, and Remus disappeared twice again, with the same reason for his absence. The winter Holidays sprung on them rather quickly, and Seneca made plans to meet up with Lily, Emmeline, and Remus in Diagon Alley over break. Midterm exams would be not long after they returned, and although Seneca tried to be happy, the threat of testing hung over his head like a shadow. Seneca sat with the four Gryffindor boys on the way back (Frank stayed at school over break), and found that although they weren’t nearly as loud as he thought, they were even more devious than it originally seemed. In fact, their little group was behind several ‘pranks’ across the school that had occurred since September, the most infamous of which was the sabotaging of the Slytherin bathrooms. In all honesty, Seneca didn’t really care about any of it because it was quite funny (and also because most of the pranks had been directed at slytherin). Seneca was incredibly happy to see his family again, and he learned on the way home that Irene and Euphemia had scheduled another dinner, although at the Locklear’s this time. His mom also told him that she had gotten a good deal on a muggle plane flight to New York that summer, so she had an extra plane ticket if he wanted to invite a friend, and that the trip would be for two weeks in August. Irene was really excited to see her parents again, and she wouldn’t stop talking about all the things she wanted to do when she was in New York. Seneca fell asleep the second he got home, and Maya was incredibly happy to be back, meowing and running around the flat. 

Over the winter hols, Seneca studied constantly, worrying about his History of Magic and DADA marks, which had dipped far too low for his liking. It snowed over winter break, and when the Potter’s came over, James, Nadia, and Seneca went sledding in Hampstead Heath. The adults had a long, private discussion in Irene’s office at the flat, and wouldn’t let the kids know what it was about. Seneca had his suspicions that it was related to his mom’s odd note about DADA. Seneca got some new clothes that he had dearly wanted for Christmas (he still finds it weird that his family celebrates Christmas, as they aren’t Christian in the slightest), and he was very happy to wear them to Diagon Alley with Emmeline, Lily, and Remus. He also noticed a new scar on Remus’ face, but didn’t want to say anything. He felt really bad for Remus, but he didn’t want to make him uncomfortable. After they exited Diagon Alley and went into a muggle department store (Emmeline found it incredibly fun, as she was the only one with no muggle experience in the group), Seneca pulled Lily aside and worriedly asked her about Remus’ new scars, “What do you think is happening to him? Do you think he gets hurt at home?”

Lily bit her lip “I don’t know. I met his parents at King’s Cross last week and they seemed great. Maybe it has something to do with his random disappearances, but I wouldn’t put too much thought into it. He’s really touchy about personal stuff, so I wouldn’t say anything unless you know for sure”

Seneca hugged her, “I hope so. Thanks Lily,”

“No Problem”

When they walked back over to Emmeline and Remus near the bedsheets, Remus looked at them quizzically, but didn’t say anything. They wandered through the rest of the store, and then took the tube back to Seneca’s house. He introduced them to his sister, and then they played truth or dare in one of the spare bedrooms. Before too long, everyone slowly had to leave, with every set of parents, except for the Evanses, using the floo network to pick up their child (‘It’s really helpful to be able to get from Swansea to London in a pinch’ said Remus’ Mom, Hope). Seneca and Lily specifically observed the Lupins, but didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary, they even noticed what appeared to be an especially loving household. It was quite odd. 

Just like their little outing, the holidays quickly slipped away, with Seneca being back in King’s Cross before he knew it. On the way back, he sat with Lily, Marlene, Dorcas, Emmeline, and Mary. They talked about much more meaningful things, but the journey was less exhilarating. 

Midterms came and went with little incident, Seneca did far better than he expected. Everything seemed to be going quite well, until roughly a week after their returns. 

Everyone was sitting in the library one evening, trying to be quiet, as Madame Pince glared at them, willing for them to damage a book so she could ban them from the library. All of a sudden, Sirius reached over for his book, and his sleeve caught on Emmeline’s pen. His sweater pulled all the way down, exposing a cacophony of bruises lining his arm, and what appeared to be several belt burns on his upper back. 

Everyone got very quiet, and Sirius had a panicked look on his face. 

“Sirius,” James started,

Sirius ran out of the library

“OUT!” Madame Pince said, after they called after him. 

They all ran towards Gryffindor tower, but McGonagall stopped Seneca and Emmeline. Emmeline nodded for everyone else to continue, and McGonagall said “It’s almost curfew. You know you can’t be there right now.”

Seneca swallowed and decided to ask, “Um, Professor? Can you check on Sirius? Or like his situation at home? He’s been hurt and we’re really worried about him.”

Her face softened “I will look into it. Thank you for telling me. Now go on to your dorms before I have to take points.” She finished with a pointed gaze. 

Eventually, it was revealed that Sirius’ Parents had done it to him. Because of him being in Gryffindor, and his ‘social cohorts’ as Sirius put it. When Seneca asked him how they could even know what his social life was like, Sirius pointed at the large slytherin table. “Bellatrix and Narcissa. My cousins. Bella is a seventh year and Cissy is a sixth year. Loyal as dogs to the Black family.” He spat out his family name. 

The rest of the group came to realize how touchy Sirius was about his familial situation, and everyone except for James steered around it whenever possible. The next couple months passed by, with the biggest event being James asking Lily out for Valentine’s Day, and her immediately turning him down. Seneca continued to write back home frequently, as he missed his family very much. Fifth and Seventh years grew increasingly more stressed as June grew nearer, and James grew more and more crazed as the Inter-house Quidditch tournament approached. Seneca considered trying out for seeker the next year, and decided that maybe he should pay attention. Remus and Sirius had a brief fight, but it was quickly resolved after Remus returned from another one of his monthly absences.

The Easter Hols were a welcome, albeit brief, respite from the intensity of school, and most of the students that returned home spent their time holed up inside. Seneca thought about meeting up with some friends but decided against it. 

He did, however, decide on asking Remus if he could go to New York that summer. At first Remus was very unsure, oddly saying that he needed to check with his parents and his calendar, and that it was unlikely. Two days later however, Seneca received a letter saying that he was allowed, and that he was so excited. 

It came to no one's surprise that Gryffindor had won the house cup, they had done so for the past seven years. James didn’t stop celebrating at every chance he got, although the majority of his afternoons, along with Sirius’ and some of Remus’ were occupied by detentions, as a result of their ever-escalating pranks. The final straw for McGonagall was when they cursed the Slytherin Common Room so that everyone that entered would see the effects of a seventy-year aging potion. 

When report cards were received in June, Peter was crestfallen at his abysmal grades, which of course he was consoled over, although no one was particularly surprised. Seneca did slightly better than what he expected, but he knew he could do better, and resolved to do so next year. 

The summer holidays in Britain are far shorter than they were in America, Seneca noted, as he realized that he would only be out of school for a month and half, rather than nearly three months. He supposed that it made sense, with how long the other holidays were, but it was still kind of annoying.

Seneca met up with Emmeline, Lily, and Remus several times during the summer, and had dinner with the Potter’s twice. Once he even went to Lily’s house to hang out with Marlene, Dorcas, Mary, Alice, and Emmeline, and he brought Nadia with him so she could play with Petunia. Nadia mentioned something about Petunia being sad about not getting a letter, and when he owled Lily about it, she explained how Petunia was devastated that she hadn’t received a Hogwarts letter. Seneca felt bad, but resigned himself to the fact that everyone’s lives turned out differently. 

In early August, Seneca and his family flooed with Remus to Heathrow, and subsequently boarded a PanAm flight to LaGuardia. Remus was incredibly nervous the entire time, saying how he had never been on a plane before and questioning why ‘Muggles would choose this bloody death tube over a boat’. 

Seneca tried to ignore Remus’ new scars, but he couldn’t help but look. One day when they were in their hotel room in Manhattan, Remus noticed Seneca’s gaze, and they both quickly looked away, Remus going pale and Seneca flushing furiously. 

Seneca took Remus to see all the muggle sights around the city with Irene, and they even went up to Albany for a couple days to see Irene’s parents. Remus thought Albany was especially beautiful, and commented numerous times on the new Empire State Plaza, saying how ‘There’s nothing like this back in Britain’. Several british equivalents immediately came to Seneca’s mind, but he didn’t want to be rude. 

On their second-to-last day there, Irene finally caved and took them to Washington Square. Remus was very confused when he stepped out of the subway station; it just looked like a normal park, nothing special. Seneca and Irene led him to a smaller entrance, with a shaded path. As soon as he stepped onto the path and off of the sidewalk, a jumble of crowded, colorful buildings appeared. Incredibly startled, he stumbled backwards, and it disappeared. He looked around and couldn’t see Seneca or Irene anywhere. All of a sudden, Seneca’s head appeared out of nowhere, in the middle of the air; “Come on, we don’t have a lot of time, and there’s a lot I want to show you!”

Seneca led him through a mess of small alleys, ending in a tiny plaza in what appeared to be the center of the park. There was a large arch in the middle, and one of the small buildings nearby had a fairly large clock tower. After exploring nearly a dozen shops and getting lunch at ‘the best food stand in all of Manhattan’, Irene brought them down to the MACUSA office so she could pick up some important documents and sign some paperwork. Remus thought that the inside of the tower was one of the coolest things he had ever seen, but as soon as they had entered, they left. 

Two days later, they returned to Britain, and Remus flooed back to Swansea. Seneca was quite sad, but he was really happy with the way the trip had gone. 

The next week, Seneca returned to Diagon Alley with James and Peter, and just like the last time, met up with Lily later on. This time, however, Nadia went with him and his dad. She was practically bouncing off the walls in apprehension, endlessly going on and on about the kind of wand she wanted and how she knew exactly which owl she wanted to buy. Nadia and his Dad went to get the things she needed while Seneca was with his friends, so he didn’t know everything she had gotten until ti was time to leave. Nadia showed up outside the bookstore with a brand-new wand and a barn owl named Annie. While Nick took Seneca to get his supplies, Nadia sat down with Petunia, whose face was twisted into a nasty grimace. He only had several new books to buy that year, but his Dad insisted on buying him a broom. Seneca was incredibly embarrassed when Lily stared at the shiny dark wood. Eventually, they had to go home, and just like the year before, he packed all of his stuff in his trunk and went to sleep thinking of what school would entail. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a couple quick things:  
> \- The food summoning thing was kinda dumb but I kept it bc i liked the dialogue  
> \- I feel like a lot of my characters sound really american, sorry about that.  
> \- This chapter had a lot of events that were glossed over, and that kind of thing will still be in the other chapters but it will go away more as Regulus becomes a more central part of the story.  
> Sorry if the end feels kind of rushed, I wrote it at like 2am and hit a writer's block so it sounds a bit odd. I'm hoping to go back and edit that in the future.  
> Thank you so much for reading, it really helps! As always, your comments and corrections mean a lot to me and I will take them all into consideration! Have a nice day <3


	3. Second Year, Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Marauders, Seneca, and their friends settle into a new year at Hogwarts. They also meet the unusual younger brother of Sirius Black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So change of plans, I'm going to split each year into a couple parts, so that I can put out chapters faster.  
> Anyways, enjoy!

**TW: Implied Abuse**

September 1st started with thunder and rain. This year, Seneca’s parents were far more stressed about arrival times, he assumed that it was probably because of Nadia’s horrendous record for being on time. He still thought it was unfair, considering their actions on his first day the year before, but he knew the differences weren’t unwarranted. 

Irene shook him awake at 9:45, “There was a power outage and none of our alarms went off, we have to go soon”.

She left his room muttering something about ‘relying too much on no-maj technology’. 

Before too long, Seneca and Irene were waiting in the foyer, just like last year. This time, however, Nick was not trying to be funny and delay them. Nadia was still in her room, slowing their departure. He could hear her muffled voice through the ceiling above him “Annie isn’t ready to leave yet and-”

Nick cut her off, saying “It’s 10:20. If we don’t leave now, we’ll probably miss the train.”

Lightning briefly illuminated the flat, and several moments later there was a roar of thunder. 

Finally, Nadia was completely ready to leave, dragging her trunk down the stairs. Irene scolded her for disturbing the neighbors, asking “How would you feel to be woken up to that?”

“I wouldn’t wake up, I sleep too deeply” Nadia responded cheekily. 

Irene glowered and turned to face Nick and Seneca, “The cab is already outside, let’s go.”

The family clambered down the building’s stairs, heading towards the door. It was dark and pouring rain outside, with several inches of water rushing by on the edges of the street. Irene and Nick loaded the trunks into the car, and Nadia fell asleep as soon as they sat down inside. 

“King’s Cross, please” Irene said, sighing and sorting through her work bag, which was soaked. She made a mental note to use a drying spell later, once they were away from the prying eyes of muggles. 

They arrived at King’s Cross at 10:40. Nadia followed Seneca, and although he was embarrassed by his younger sister, he wasn’t going to make her sit by herself. James and the other Gryffindor boys, minus Sirius, were already in a compartment, as were Marlene, Mary, Dorcas, and Alice. Seneca found Emmeline and Lily fairly quickly. Severus was with her, and even though Seneca had no idea what she saw in him, he decided to just ignore Severus’ presence. The five of them sat in a compartment together, Severus sitting in the corner, immediately burying himself in a book. 

They talked for just a bit, but then they noticed Sirius outside. He was standing with what appeared to be his parents; a short, witchy-looking woman, and a taller, bald man. Seneca also saw a younger, smaller boy next to Sirius, but before he could get a good look, the woman cuffed the two boys on the ear and pushed them off towards the train. Sirius bounded past their window, entering James’ cabin and slamming the door behind him. Seneca heard James and Remus’ muffled cheers, but was distracted by the younger boy standing outside their window. He was slightly shorter than Sirius, and had straight, short hair, rather than Sirius’ long, curly hair, even though their hair was equally black. His skin was slightly less pasty but he was still quite pale, which made his dark eyes stand out far more than Sirius’ grey eyes ever would. He wore a forlorn look, gazing at the door Sirius had disappeared into, but his face quickly became quite angry, his thick eyebrows bunching together.

On a whim, Emmeline opened the door, and said “You can sit with us, if you want?”

The boy turned towards them, at first with a look of slight fear, before forcing his face into a look of disdain. He turned his nose up and said “None of you lot are mudbloods or blood-traitors then? My parents will not permit me to sit with filthy people like that.”

Seneca’s eyes narrowed, and after giving Lily and Emmeline a pointed look, said “No, please sit.”

Severus was watching the entire exchange with raised eyebrows, and made an over-exaggerated cough. Seneca glared at him, before motioning for the boy to sit to his right. He looked a bit frightened, before taking a seat next to Seneca and Nadia. 

“My name’s Seneca, and that’s Emmeline, Lily, Severus, and my sister, Nadia.” Everyone gave a small wave, with the exception of Severus, who was still observing the small boy with a calculating gaze. 

“My name is Regulus Black. Are you American?”

Choosing to ignore the rude tone of the question, Seneca responded, “Yes, our Mom,” he motioned to Nadia, “is the MACUSA ambassador to the Ministry.”

“My mother said not to consort with colonists. She said only the weak ones left Britain.”  
Emmeline said “Is your Mum also the one that told you purebloods are superior?”

“Yes.”

“Why do you believe her?”

Regulus looked at Emmeline with a look of fear and anger. “My mother is correct. _You_ don’t know what goes on with _me_.”

Looking taken aback, Emmeline started going through her bag. Seneca wanted to keep asking, but he feared that if he pressed any further, Regulus would lash out even more. The rest of the train ride was fairly quiet, although Nadia spoke with Emmeline and Lily a bit. Seneca spent most of the time thinking about Regulus. If the few things Sirius had mentioned about his life at home were true, and also considering how much worse it probably was, Seneca knew that the things that Regulus said didn’t have any true meaning. Or at least, he didn’t know why he said them. 

Before they left, Seneca turned to say something to him; “You know, it doesn’t matter what house you’re in. If you ever need someone to talk to, I’ll be here.”

Regulus gave him a weird look and left the cabin, breezing past Sirius’ cabin right as he opened the door. Regulus didn’t deign to look at his brother, instead choosing to move to the opposite side of the passage. Sirius looked back at Lily and Seneca,

“I see you’ve met my darling brother” He drawled, with a dead monotone. Seneca gave a sad smile, and then turned to Nadia, directing her towards the first-year boat docks. 

Seneca and his friends walked up the main path, where a fleet of carriages was awaiting the non-first year students. At first, it didn’t appear to be enough for the roughly two thousand students that would need to take them, but as he walked up, it became obvious that the carriages were using space-expansion charms, just like the train. When they came up to one of the carriages, there appeared to be nothing in place of the horses that typically pull carriages. 

Mary made a strange noise, halfway between a gasp and a choke, and pointed at the empty space in front of the carriage, “Does no one else see that?” She said, her voice saturated with fear. Everyone else looked at her in confusion, and she fell back against Emmeline, clutching the taller girl’s shoulder. All of a sudden, an incredibly tall man rounded the bend in the path, “Hi Hagrid!” James and Sirius said, excitedly.

“Who?” Seneca mouthed to Lily. She shrugged.

“Hullo boys.” Hagrid then pointed to the empty space in front of the carriage once again, looking at Mary, “S’Thestrals, they’re very docile creatures, but‘ya can only see ‘em if you’ve witnessed death.”

Mary looked sick and climbed into the carriage, immediately followed by Emmeline. Everyone else slowly filed into the Carriage, which appeared to have enough room for nearly thirty people. 

Over the next ten minutes, other students slowly filtered in, and Emmeline consoled Mary in the back row, stroking the shorter girl’s curly hair as she leaned against her shoulder. James and Sirius were plotting another prank at one end of the row, while Peter slept in the seat in front of them. Marlene, Dorcas, Remus, Lily, and Seneca started discussing their expectations, as Alice and Frank were engaging in quiet discussion. 

“Are any of you lot going to try out for the Quidditch team? I want to be a beater.” Marlene said,

Lily responded, “I might try out for Seeker, I think Seneca wants to too.” Seneca nodded. 

It was at this point he realized their conversation had piqued James and Sirius’ interest, “Oi, you’re trying out for seeker, Evans?” James asked.

At the same time, Sirius blurted “Hey, I want to be the Gryffindor beater.”

“Mate, you _do know_ there are multiple beaters on the team?” Marlene said, smiling. 

“Bloody obviously. You really think they’ll let both beaters be first years?”

Marlene smiled, “Then may the best one win.”

“Bet you 5 galleons McKinnon is the new beater.” James said. Marlene stuck her tongue out at Sirius. 

“Oi, Jamie, how could you?” Sirius said, clutching his chest in mock betrayal. 

The six now-second years continued to debate about the outcomes of the upcoming quidditch tournaments, barely noticing as the Carriage started moving up the steep roadway towards the castle gates. 

The sorting ceremony started fairly quickly, and it was a nice change of scenery to be the ones watching, rather than being subjected to the attention of the entire hall. The first ten students were sorted without incident, but then Regulus was called up to the chair. Sirius looked up from his food, focusing intently on his younger brother. Regulus was trembling and looked far paler than he had been on the train, and appeared to almost collapse under the weight of the hat. 

Regulus sat there for quite a while, the hall deadly silent. The longer he took, the more Sirius smiled, hoping that Regulus would be in any house but Slytherin. Sirius tried to get Regulus’ attention, but soon realized that it was focused elsewhere, at a particular Slytherin table.   
Sirius’ cousin Bellatrix made a nasty gesture, and all of a sudden, the hat shouted “ _SLYTHERIN”_

Sirius shrunk back into his seat, looking dejected. Seneca waved Regulus over to come sit with them, but Regulus turned an ugly shade of puce and ran over to the Slytherin table, Bellatrix patting his head as he sat down. Funnily enough, he didn’t look any better than he had on the chair, further solidifying Seneca’s suspicions that the things he said weren’t entirely up to him.

Not much later, Nadia was called up and almost as soon as the hat touched her head, it shouted out “ _GRYFFINDORI!”_. She skipped over to a table in the Gryffindor section, and sat with three other Gryffindor first-years who had already been sorted, talking animatedly with a small girl with a Shayla, who Seneca vaguely remembered being named Fazia. 

The feast was delicious, as usual, and before too long, the older students were ushered up to the dorms, so that they wouldn’t impede the first-year orientation. Emmeline and Seneca were delayed by several moving staircases, and got to Ravenclaw tower right before Flitwick and the first-years arrived. 

This year, their class schedule was mostly the same. The Gryffindors and Ravenclaws again had most of their classes together, but this year, the Ravenclaws had DADA and History of Magic with the Slytherins, and Herbology with the Hufflepuffs. 

Astronomy was just as boring, but the introduction of the Slytherins made History of Magic far more stressful than the actual course material was. Herbology was relatively fun, and Professor Sprout was definitely one of Seneca’s favorite teachers. The first lesson of the year was raising mandrakes, and it made him like the class a bit less, but at least he wouldn’t have to deal with them all year long. 

Seneca still loved Transfiguration and Charms, and would partner with Lily frequently, as they were some of the best students in the class. Potions was harder this year, but it was nice to have the Gryffindors with them. Care of Magical Creatures was still relatively boring, but like the other classes, the intensity had ramped up, so it was definitely more engaging. 

In mid-October, the team captains held the Quidditch tryouts. Gryffindor went first, and to no one’s surprise, James, Sirius, and Marlene spent the weeks leading up to it practicing and perfecting their skills. James scored a chaser position, and Marlene scored a beater position. Sirius and Lily were not so lucky, Sirius was greatly disappointed, and didn’t attend meals for several days. Lily didn’t particularly care, saying “I’ll just try again next year when the current seeker graduates”. Remus was notably absent from the tryouts, as he had been from the pre-exams in september. When Dorcas asked him about it, his only response was “I had to go home for a bit”.

Seneca and Emmeline both tried out for the Ravenclaw quidditch team, with Seneca becoming the new seeker, and Emmeline becoming a chaser. The four Quidditch players of the friend group were having to spend increasing amounts of time on the Quidditch pitch, and losing several hours of sleep as a result. One day right around Halloween, Seneca and Emmeline fell asleep in Potions, to the great displeasure of Professor Slughorn. 

On the day of the Halloween feast, Seneca and Emmeline had to wake up at six in the morning, even though it was a saturday. 

As they waited for a staircase to swing towards them, Seneca muttered,“I’m tired of these bloody Quidditch practices. It’s taking up way too much of our time.”

Emmeline looked at him in surprise, “Look who’s using brit slang now” she smiled and looked out the window as Seneca ran his fingers through his dark hair, slightly embarrassed.

Practice was grueling as usual, with the Ravenclaw captain, Priya Karim, pushing them especially hard; “We need to beat Gryffindor this year, we can’t let them have yet another consecutive victory.”

Seneca and Emmeline weakly smiled and proceeded to complete the several dozen drills she had outlined for them, and then played not one, but two, practice games. 

Emmeline yawned and said something about “Getting my textbook from Mary”, before splitting away and walking towards Gryffindor Tower. Seneca waved goodbye and decided to take a detour by the dungeons, not for any particular reason. 

As he walked past a dark alcove, he heard someone crying. Normally he wouldn’t care, he had learnt to avoid those in emotional states (thanks, Nadia, he thought). However, this person sounded oddly familiar, but he couldn’t quite place who they were. 

‘ _Lumos_ ’ he muttered, exploring the small hallway. He could see someone behind a statue, next to a tapestry. Then he realized who it was. 

“Regulus?” The crying abruptly stopped.

“Who is it. What do you want.”

“It’s Seneca. From the train. Are you okay?”

“I remember you, and I’m fine. I don’t need your help.” Regulus said quietly, his breath hitching. 

“Are you sure? You don’t sound okay.”  
“I’m _fine_.” He said forcefully. 

Seneca decided to leave him be, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Regulus look up at him with tears on his cheeks. 

Annoyed that Regulus was so blatantly lying, although it was admittedly not entirely his fault, Seneca walked away. 

He slowly made his way back to the Ravenclaw common room, collapsing on a couch next to Emmeline. Maya was curled around her neck like a large, silver pillow, purring contentedly. 

Seneca absentmindedly started petting Maya before drifting off to sleep. 

Three hours later, he and Emmeline were jolted awake by Charley.

“How long have you guys been sleeping? It’s almost three o’clock?”

Emmeline grumbled and slowly pried Maya off her neck. Seneca ignored Charley while the smaller boy trailed behind him, babbling about how it was “so cool that two first-years were on the Quidditch team”, and how Seneca and Emmeline were “The coolest people in Ravenclaw”.

Emmeline gave Seneca a look of sympathy before closing the door to her dorm. Seneca interrupted Charley’s tirade, “Look, Charley, I’m really thankful that you think so well of me, but right now, I have to take a shower and do some homework. Sorry.”

“Oh it’s quite alright, actually, maybe I can help you with your homework-” Seneca closed the bathroom door, leaning against it and slowly sliding down. He missed having his own bedroom back in London. 

After taking a long shower and changing into some comfortable muggle clothes, Seneca lay down on his bed, practicing for his Transfiguration exam the next week. He repeatedly transformed his pencil into an eraser, making sure that he got it completely correct. He then transfigured it into a flashlight, or rather, a torch, and transfigured it back several times. It took three tries to get the light to work, and six tries to get the material of the torch completely correct. After trying out a couple other transfigurations, Seneca wandered down to the library, and started studying for his project on the moon cycles for Astronomy. Seneca marked down the full moons on his calendar, as well as the new moons. 

When he looked back at the dates, he had a striking realization. All of Remus’s absences that year had fallen on the same day as full moons. At first, he didn’t think much of it, but looking at last year’s calendar, all of Remus’ absences that he could remember also lined up with full moons. A chill ran down Seneca’s back as he realized there was only one likely explanation for this, aside from it being a complete coincidence (which was far from plausible). Remus was a werewolf.

How he was even allowed to study at Hogwarts was beyond Seneca, as anti-werewolf legislation was even more stringent in Britain than it was in America. Seneca knew a lot about human and werewolf relations, as his dad was a huge campaigner for werewolf rights back at MACUSA. 

He briefly contemplated asking Lily or even telling Remus, but he decided against it, as he didn’t want to expose him. He could get expelled, or even go to prison. There was no telling what the parents of the students would do, and Seneca was not one that would want to be there for their wrath. 

Trying to bury his newfound discovery into his mind, Seneca returned to his Astronomy work. After less than an hour of unproductive scribbling, Seneca left the library, but not without saving the names of two books on werewolves that he saw. Madame Pince eyed him like a vulture as he left, Seneca wondered why she had even taken the job if she didn’t want students even touching her books. 

The Halloween feast was quite fun, and just like last year, Emmeline and Seneca received permission from Professor McGonagall to spend the evening in the Gryffindor common room. Towards the end, during a game of truth or dare, Marlene poised the question to Remus. Seneca didn’t miss how the boy appeared to not even consider choosing truth, immediately saying “Dare”. This only further confirmed Seneca’s theory, but it just made him feel worse for the boy. He could hardly imagine going through the grueling transformations every month, and that didn’t even count the massive amount of stress he was probably under for keeping it a secret. 

After a couple of hours and increasingly frequent pointed looks from the prefects, Emmeline and Seneca said goodbye to their friends, walking towards the hole in the wall where the portrait was. 

Seneca didn’t miss Sirius’ leaning against Remus’ shoulder, and Remus’ flushed cheeks. Seneca smiled, forgetting about Remus’ predicament for just a moment. 

November came and went, with Seneca receiving near-constant compliments from McGonagall in Transfiguration, as the older witch repeatedly said things like “Well done, Mr. Locklear, this is even better than some of my third-years!”, or “I have never seen as seamless a transfiguration as that from a student your age, great job!”. At first it was kind of nice, but it quickly got embarrassing. Herbology and Potions continued to be smooth sailing, and DADA appeared to actually improve for Seneca and Emmeline. 

Unfortunately for Remus, Lily, Emmeline, and Seneca, their group project in Care of Magical Creatures received a near-failing grade, which was sure to greatly impact their end-of-year marks. The four were distraught for weeks, with Seneca treating every letter from his parents like an unopened bomb, thinking that _somehow_ , his dad may have found out about his abysmal CMC project.

One day in early December, shortly before break, Seneca was cornered by James in the hall. “Do you want to stay at my house for the winter hols? I invited Remus and Sirius too, and Peter lives just down the road, so it’s practically like he would be there too!”

Slightly confused by James’ invitation (James’ didn’t include Seneca very often, and it wasn’t because they weren’t friends, they just weren’t overly close), Seneca agreed, surmising that staying at the Potter’s would make it far easier to avoid his Dad’s disappointment when he inevitably found out about the Care of Magical Creatures disaster. 

“Sure, I’ll need to check with my parents first, but that sounds great!”

Seneca headed to the Owlery, sending a quick letter to his parents, asking for permission to spend the holidays at James’. 

He received a letter two days later, and although his parents sounded slightly miffed at his request, they said that he could stay there for break, as long as he flooed home for a bit on Christmas Day. 

By the end of the week, it was already time to leave. Seneca would be spending the Holidays with just James (and kind of Peter), as Sirius had said his parents would never allow it, and Remus had informed them that he couldn’t go, since his Mum was sick. Seneca checked his calendar, and just as he thought, there was a full moon right in the middle of break; on the 23rd. 

Seneca decided to sit in a compartment with the same people he had sat with on his journey to school that year, except for the lack of Nadia and Severus, and the addition of Mary. Nadia went to go sit with her new first-year friends, and Severus sat in a car that was reserved exclusively for Slytherin. Seneca tried to appear sad about the boy’s absence, as Lily missed her friend dearly, but it was so hard to feign empathy for such a nasty person. Seneca had noticed that Emmeline and Mary had gotten really close lately, the two of them constantly whispering in each other’s ear. They had recently turned thirteen, and had an air of superiority around them, thinking that they were so much better than Lily and Seneca because of their advanced age. 

Shortly before the train left, Seneca spotted Regulus looking a bit lost in the corridor, and felt an odd urge to protect the younger boy from whatever was making him upset. 

“You can sit with us, you know.” Seneca said, sliding open the compartment door, and right as Regulus started to step in, dragging his trunk with him, a sing-song voice could be heard at the end of the hall; “Come on  _ Reggie _ , come sit with your darling cousins.” Narcissa Black appeared in the corridor, clutching Regulus’ shoulder with a vice-like hand. 

“Come on, you don’t want to sit with the mudbloods and blood-traitors.” She said in a venomous tone, sneering at them.

“Wait, you’re mudbloods?” Regulus said, genuinely confused, before mimicking his cousin’s sneer, and slamming the door. 

Lily and Mary had both flinched at the use of the word. 

“I really don’t understand why you made us lie to him at the beginning of the year, Seneca. I’m pretty sure his views are set the way they are.” Lily said, a note of annoyance in her voice. 

“I don’t think so. He only abides by what his cousins say, clearly out of fear, and even though that doesn’t make a good person, I don’t think he actually believes anything he says. Or at least he doesn’t know why he believes it. I just want to help him.”

Mary piped up, “That actually might be true. And if he deals with the same bloody horrible treatment Sirius does, it wouldn’t be that surprising if this,” she gestured towards where he had stood, “is all motivated out of fear”.

“I guess,” Lily said, then changed the conversation to school subjects. 

After a lengthy discussion on how incredibly boring History of Magic was, and a fiery debate on which house would win the Quidditch cup (none of the four even thought about the potential victory of Slytherin or Hufflepuff), the train was pulling i nto King’s Cross. Seneca gathered his belongings, and prepared for an unusual holiday. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m contemplating changing the original character’s names because it’s starting to get on my nerves for no reason. If you have any suggestions please comment!  
> \+ Kinda random but try listening to Mago by GFRIEND, it's been stuck in my head for the past couple days and it's all I could listen to while I wrote this.


	4. Second Year, Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Several important revelations are made over the rest of second year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Implied Abuse, internalized homophobia, questioning of sexuality, severe injuries, mentions of drugs and alcohol.

Disembarking the train, Seneca spotted his and James' parents standing on the concourse. Lily and the other members of his compartment walked over to their own parents, and Remus’ Dad was waiting for him by the barrier. Peter had already left, as his Mom had an important meeting not long after the train arrived. 

While he was walking, Seneca was distracted by the Black family. Regulus was standing next Narcissa and his parents, with another couple whom Seneca assumed were Narcissa’s parents. Sirius slowly made his way over to them, and glanced longingly at James and Remus, before standing next to his parents. Walburga, Sirius’ Mother, gripped the boy’s forearm, her long nails visibly digging into his skin. Sirius winced as she dragged him through the barrier, the rest of the Black family following behind. Regulus turned around briefly, appearing to look for someone, before his father smacked him on the back of the head, leading him off the concourse. 

Irene and Nick both hugged Seneca, before launching into a tirade about his responsibilities and manners, and their plans for Christmas Day. After saying goodbye and sending Nadia away with Maya’s carrier, as Mrs. Potter was allergic to cats, Seneca quickly handed his father his grade report, before running off with the Potter’s. Seneca looked back just long enough to see his father’s eyebrows raise as he scanned the parchment. 

Following Euphemia and Fleamont out of the station, James and Seneca started talking about Quidditch, 

“Reckon Ravenclaw will be a strong team this year,” James said. 

Seneca grimaced, “You haven’t seen our practices. Our beaters are some of the worst I’ve ever seen, and the captain is really only focusing on the new recruits.”

“So you and Emmeline”

“Yeah, I don’t know what her thought process there is. When’s your first game?”

“January 22nd. I think it’s against Slytherin.”  
Seneca laughed, “NIce way to start the season”

“I just hope that the ref actually pays attention to the game,” James smiled. 

Their quick conversation was interrupted by the Potter’s leading them to a secluded alley, so they could apparate home. 

“Hold tight, dear,” Euphemia said, extending her hand to Seneca. 

James took Fleamont’s hand, and the four of them disappeared. 

Seneca hated the agonising, twisting sensation of apparating; he saw objects and flashes of light fly past his field of view, and after nearly throwing up, they appeared on a street outside of the Potter’s house. 

Seneca had long ago realized that the Potter’s must be incredibly wealthy, being able to afford such a large stand-alone home so close to central London. He remembered the neighborhood being on the opposite side of Hampstead Heath from West Hampstead, but he couldn’t remember the exact name. 

The Potter’s house was a sprawling brick and wood-framed victorian home, with two large gables and a small turret. The house was even larger on the inside than it appeared on the outside, with several rooms that didn’t exist on the muggle blueprints, and numerous space-expansion charms. 

As soon as they entered the house, Euphemia levitated their trunks upstairs. “I’ve prepared the spare room next to James’ room for you, it’s the second door on the right,” she said, pointing up the stairs. 

“Come on, I can show you!” James exclaimed, bounding up the massive curved staircase, barely giving Seneca time to fully take in the house. He had been there before, of course, but he had only ever really been in the dining room or living room inside, or the garden outside. 

Following James, Seneca looked around at his surroundings. The furnishings were a strange mix of ancient-looking British furniture, and extravagant South Asian furniture. Although the combination was a bit odd, it somehow worked perfectly, adding character to the old house. 

James pointed to his own room, and then a door to the left of it. 

“That one’s mine, well you already know that, and that’s the one you’ll be using. They have a shared bathroom, it’s pretty nice.”

Seneca stepped into the room, looking around. The room was decorated like the rest of the house, but with a pastel palette. 

A door on the right side of the room opened, and James stepped in, smiling. 

“That’s the bathroom.” 

Seeing Seneca’s surprise at the room’s colors, he said, “My parents decorated this room when they were planning for a second kid, and they never repainted it, so that’s why it looks like this”.

Seneca just nodded, and the two boys flopped down on the bed, immediately discussing Quidditch and school, not noticing the worried, quiet discussion Fleamont and Euphemia were having in the room below them after the post arrived. 

The next several days were quite fun, with Seneca and James practicing on their brooms in the Potter’s back garden, thanks to the advanced distracting spells Fleamont had cast over the property. It would be a hard thing to explain to their muggle neighbors if they saw two boys floating on brooms in midair. 

Peter came over a couple times on Sunday and Tuesday, and they played some board games in the Potter’s living room while it snowed. Euphemia spent most of Wednesday finishing up work at the ministry, and Fleamont went to visit his sister, so James and Seneca decided to get out of the house for a bit. They tried to walk across Hampstead Heath to Seneca’s house, but had to stop halfway there when they realized there was no way they would be able to get there before nightfall with the amount of snow covering the paths. 

On Thursday, Seneca flooed to his own house after breakfast, but James said he wouldn’t really be missing anything, as the Potter’s didn’t celebrate Christmas anyways. “All we do is exchange gifts, and that’s really the extent of it. Mom hates having trees in the house because the needles get everywhere”, as James had said. 

It turned out that Irene had wanted Seneca at home for a Christmas party, which made a lot more sense, considering the Locklear’s minimal Christmas traditions. The party was for the local MACUSA employees, so it was the logical conclusion that it would be held at the Ambassador’s residence. After they opened their presents and ate a nice lunch, guests started to arrive, with eventually three dozen adults being compressed into Seneca’s house. His Mom introduced Seneca to her coworkers so many times that he must have been introduced to everyone at least twice. The party was relatively boring, with most of the adults carrying stuffy conversations, and only acknowledging Seneca and Nadia enough so that they didn’t seem rude. The only thing that didn’t make the party absolutely horrible was the food his mom had prepared; each dish brought back a different memory from New York. After several hours, people slowly started to leave, with the flat emptying out completely by seven o’clock. 

After cleaning up the flat, and putting the leftover hors d'oeuvres away, Seneca sat down in the living room with his family and watched _Miracle on 34th street_. It was a tradition to watch it every year, and it just felt nice to, despite Seneca’s opinions on the film itself. The candles in the windowsills burned low, and the small tree Nick and Nadia had decorated spread a lovely smell throughout the room. It was a nice night. 

After numerous hugs and kisses from his family, Seneca flooed back to the Potter’s, carrying his gifts and several boxes of food, “Tell Euphemia and Fleamont to try the apple pie,” Irene had said. 

When Seneca appeared in the living room, James was lying down on the couch, completely asleep. 

Seneca walked over and sat next to his head, gently waking him up.   
“James? It’s almost eleven o’clock. Let’s go upstairs.”   
James blinked and shook his head, using Seneca as support to get up. 

“What’s that? Smells bloody delicious.”

“Some food from my parent’s party. I was going to put it in the kitchen anyways so you can have some before I stow it away.”

James smiled and offered to carry a couple of the boxes, but Seneca said it was fine.

The two boys stepped into the frigid stone kitchen, James immediately walking towards the ancient furnace and starting a fire. 

“ _Incendio_ ,” he murmured, the kindling in the cast-iron cage alighting. 

Seneca put a small slice of pie and a couple of the assorted savory bites on a plate, handing it to James. They both sat at the small table in the bay window, looking out at the snowy street.

“Where are your parents?” Seneca asked.

“Both asleep. Oh, by the way, they said to say goodnight to you.”

Seneca nodded, and then slowly leaned back, resting his head on the chair. He was completely exhausted, and as soon as James finished his food, the two trudged upstairs. Seneca got ready for bed as fast as he could without passing out, and immediately went to sleep. 

Around one in the morning, he woke to James’ hand on his face. 

Startled awake, Seneca made a noise of confusion, “Hello? Huh?”

“It’s really cold, can I get in bed with you?” James said, half asleep. 

At first Seneca was weirded out, but not before realizing that James was correct. It must have been less than fifteen degrees in the house. He pulled down the covers, and James climbed in next to him.

Normally Seneca wouldn’t have cared, but something about it was making him uncomfortable. He blushed and turned away from James, confused as to why he was feeling the way he was. He realized with a start that this was the same way he had felt around girls he had crushes on in elementary school, and Marlene at Hogwarts in first year. Seneca refused to think that whatever he was feeling was the same; James was his friend, and neither of them were gay. 

He took solace in the fact that he had liked girls, so there was no way he could like guys too, right? A memory of one of his friends in New York talking about something called ‘bisexuality’ pushed against that, but Seneca buried it behind his wall of stability, choosing to ignore it. 

Struggling to fall asleep, Seneca stared at the wall, his eyes ever so slowly drooping down. 

The next morning, he woke with a start. James’ arms were wrapped all the way around him, the taller boy near-spooning him. Seneca tried to pry him off of himself, but to no avail. He chose to stare at the ceiling instead, his heart was threatening to beat out of his chest, and Seneca angrily cursed himself for feeling the way he did. It was confusing and he didn’t understand it, so he was scared. He could always wrap his head around stuff, but this was something different. 

Before too long, James awoke, groggily smiling at Seneca, “Good morning, mate”.

“Good morning,” Seneca said, his voice cracking. ‘Fuck,’ he thought. 

James laughed, springing up out of the bed and into the bathroom. 

Seneca continued to stare at the ceiling, trying to think about anything _except_ what had just happened. 

After a light breakfast, Euphemia shooed the boys out of the house, “If you stay here any longer, you’ll grow roots in the house”.

James and Seneca walked down to the small commercial street in the neighborhood, and James bought a Beatles record and a jacket with some of the muggle money he had gotten for christmas. Seneca just browsed, trying to avoid spending any money. It wasn’t like he had any quid on him anyways, all of his money was wizard money, and it was at the house anyways. 

The boys dawdled down the street, popping into several different stores. Seneca was still lost deep in thought, and James had to snap him back to reality multiple times.

Come evening, Mr. and Mrs. Potter left to go to a Boxing Day party at the Pettigrew’s house, so James and Seneca were alone once again, to Seneca’s horror. He had repeatedly asked if Peter was coming, but was informed that Peter had to stay at home to help with the party.

Seneca tried to keep his distance from James, sitting on the outdoor steps, reading, while the other boy flew around on his broom. 

After almost taking several branches off of Euphemia’s prized wisteria vine, James sat down next to Seneca, whose heart promptly started beating faster. 

The two sat there for quite some time, Seneca pretending to be immersed in his book while internally panicking, and James staring at the grooves in the wood of his broom. 

James turned to Seneca, “Wanna snog?”

Seneca’s heart stopped, and his skin paled ten shades. “HUH?”

“Just joking mate, I was trying to break the silence.” James laughed, while Seneca almost passed out in shock. 

It turned out that James’ (albeit horrible) question did, in fact, end the period of silence, and after talking for fifteen minutes, the two went inside and watched a movie in the living room.

The rest of the evening actually passed by quite smoothly; there were no more awkward moments, and they both had a lot of fun. 

The rest of break went on like that, with the normal endless fun being punctuated with random periods of awkward silence. Peter came over several times before new years, and the Potters and Locklears attended a party at the Pettigrew’s on New Years Eve. 

Euphemia obviously felt very guilty about neglecting to host a holiday party that year, and purchased an exorbitantly expensive scarf to gift to Mrs. Pettigrew when they arrived. 

Mrs. Pettigrew, or rather, Cathryn, as she was introduced, gushed over the gift, repeatedly saying “Oh, but you didn’t have to,” to Mrs. Potter. 

The party was at least tolerable, and Seneca spent most of the time with James, Peter, and Nadia on the back patio, talking about Quidditch. 

Before they left, Seneca made arrangements with his parents to pick up Maya by floo the night before they had to go to King’s Cross, in case one of the families was late or missed the train. Seneca would just keep Maya in the room he was staying in, as not to aggravate Euphemia’s allergies. 

On the last day of break, as they both lay on the couch in the living room, drinking cider that Fleamont had gotten at a market earlier in the day, James took Seneca completely off guard. 

“Have you noticed anything weird about Remus? Like his absences?”

Seneca choked on his cider, spitting some of it back into the cup, “What do you mean?”

“Like the consistency of the days he’s not at school. And his bollocks excuses.”

“Consistency?”

“Well, his absences follow a pattern”. James pursed his lips before continuing, “He’s been on one of his little ‘absences’ every full moon.”

Seneca realized at this point that James unequivocally knew about Remus’ conditions. Or at least he had all the evidence.   
“When did you figure it out?”

James looked at him in surprise, “Figure what out?”

“That Remus is a werewolf. That’s clearly what you were implying.”

“How long have you known?” James asked in surprise. 

“Since around Halloween. I didn’t want to say anything though because of the shit Remus could get into if everyone knew”.

James leaned further back into the couch. “Shite. I shouldn’t have brought it up. It’s not my place to tell anyone.”

Seneca gave a hollow laugh, “You’ve known for longer?”.

“Since the end of last year. Mostly because we were in the same dorm as him, and it was pretty bloody obvious after a bit. Well, not entirely. He did a good job of hiding it, but it wasn’t that hard for me and Sirius to figure out”.

“How did he react when you asked him?”

James grimaced, “It was horrible. He was completely panicked, thinking that he would be expelled or go to Azkaban”.

Seneca didn’t say anything, because Remus’ suspicions were far from unrealistic. 

“Eventually, we convinced him that we weren’t going to say anything, and that we would help him whenever he needed us to. It actually worked out pretty well, and we go to the hospital wing to check on him after each transformation”.

“The new scars,” Seneca said, absentmindedly tracing his own face. 

“Yeah. He got a lot over the summer, and Madame Pomfrey can’t heal them, because they’re magical wounds”.

The conversation went on for a while longer, before it became obvious that there was nothing else to say. The two boys quickly went to bed and fell asleep, and Seneca let Maya out to roam his room. She curled up next to him in bed, loudly purring. 

Seneca awoke early Monday morning, having to practically drag himself and James out of their beds, “Come on, we’re going to be late”.

“My Mom hasn’t even said to get out of bed yet,” James said, eyes drooping closed. Seneca briefly flushed when James pulled him down into his bed, but quickly pushed it away.

“She actually did wake you up, like fifteen minutes ago”.

James groaned and rolled out of his bed, staggering into a standing position, and slowly walking towards the bathroom to take a shower. 

After a quick breakfast of eggs and toast, the boys and Fleamont apparted to King’s Cross. Euphemia wasn’t able to go with them because she had to go directly to the Ministry, so the boys said goodbye to her shortly before they left.

They ran into Seneca’s parents and Nadia on the platform, who were pleased to see their son again, since they had only seen him once since September. 

Seneca and James split apart on the train, James sitting with most of the other boys, and Seneca sitting with Lily and Emmeline as per usual, but with the addition of Mary, Dorcas, and Marlene. He hadn’t had many interactions with the other girls, and he was pleasantly surprised by how funny and kind they were. 

The Hogwarts Express wound its way through the Scottish countryside as snow fell around them, completely blocking their view out the windows. After changing into their school robes once the prefects had given them the time warning, the six second-years began talking animatedly about the new year, and how excited they were for the first quidditch match. Before they knew it, the train had pulled into Hogsmeade and they were making their way up to the castle in the carriages. 

The new year started without a hitch, with exams already being scheduled for the following week, and quidditch practices ramping up in frequency and intensity. James, Marlene, Emmeline, and Seneca would come back to the dorms dripping with sweat on a daily basis, despite the below-freezing temperatures. January 22nd was rapidly approaching, and it could clearly be seen in the Gryffindor’s mannerisms. There were multiple accidents in potions and rumor had it that the house had lost a good amount of points for increasingly unruly behavior. When the day finally came, James and Marlene were nowhere to be seen in the castle. Seneca and the other second years walked down to the quidditch pitch, and Emmeline and Seneca wore spare Gryffindor scarves so that they could blend in with their Gryffindor friends. Dorcas scanned the field for Marlene, noticeably blushing when Marlene waved and smiled at her. James looked far less nervous, instead constantly turning his head to look at different people in the crowd. He must’ve waved to each of their friends at least five times before Madame Hooch came out on the field. She had been hired that year, and judging by the attitudes of the other students, was far better than the previous referee. She watched as the team captains shook hands, before blowing her whistle, and immediately, the players took to the air. 

The game was quite close, but Gryffindor gradually pulled ahead of Slytherin thanks to the many penalty shots they had been given, due to Slytherin’s ruthless, and mostly illegal, tactics. About thirty minutes into the game, it became apparent that the slytherin seeker had sighted the snitch. The Gryffindor seeker rapidly pulled behind them, both players streaking towards the golden orb. Taking advantage of the distraction, the other Gryffindor players proceeded to score several more points. All of a sudden, the snitch dove down, and with a more agile broom, the Gryffindor seeker was able to vastly pull ahead, and pull the snitch out of the air. 

The Gryffindor section erupted into cheers, and promptly stormed the field. The Slytherins remained in their section mostly silent, with the exception of clapping from several students who were known for breaking Slytherin stereotypes. Seneca almost completely ignored it, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw something. Regulus was quietly clapping his hands, and Narcissa was seething beside him, seemingly unaware of her cousin’s happiness. 

The Gryffindor party was extended late into the night, and although Seneca and Emmeline did attend, they were forced to return to Ravenclaw Tower before 10 o’clock. Now that the Gryffindor game was out of the way, panic began to crawl over Seneca’s skin. Their game was the next weekend, and being the seeker, he would be in the spotlight. It was not something he relished, nor something he wanted to experience. He tried to push the thoughts to the back of his head as he fell asleep, but he couldn’t help but overthink, agonising over every possible failure he could be embarrassed by. The next day, and the following weekdays, continued in much the same fashion as they had before, with their constant practices, but also with the added sense of dread and apprehension. 

The day sprung on them both far too early and far too late. Priya had finally let them sleep in, but Seneca couldn’t fall back asleep after waking up far earlier than he had planned. He tried to spend the next couple hours thinking about anything other than Qudditch, but it was impossible to avoid it. At one point, Charley entered the dorm, and before he was able to launch into an entire monologue about the game, Seneca brushed past him and ran down into the common room, having already changed into his Quidditch uniform. Emmeline was sitting on one of the couches, her leg bouncing while she stared at the wall. 

“Emmeline?”

She blinked and looked up at him. 

“Should we go down to the field?”

“Yes, we probably should.” She said, stiffly, before slowly standing up and walking towards the door. The two of them paled a bit more each step they took towards the pitch, looking incredibly ill by the time they were there. 

Priya and her girlfriend, Amanda, who was coincidentally one of the Ravenclaw beaters, were talking animatedly. 

Turning towards them, Priya smiled and a bit over-energetically said, “Oi, there you lot are. We’ve been searching for you for a bit”.

“Sorry, we were…”

“Nervous, I get it. Believe me, I was even worse my first game. Come on, let’s get you ready.”

The four of them walked over to the rest of the Ravenclaw team.

“Okay, we have a lot to prove today…” Priya began to explain their entire game strategy, which quickly overwhelmed the rest of the team. After Amanda brushed her arm and looked pointedly at her, she slowed down and finished with, “Just pay attention to each other, and win us this bloody game!”

With that note, the other students began rapidly filling the stands, with Seneca and Emmeline spotting their Gryffindor friends before too long. Mary waved enthusiastically at Emmeline, who blushed, while the rest of their friends either smiled or gave a small wave to the two Ravenclaws. Seneca turned around, getting the feeling that someone was staring at him. He looked over and saw Regulus in the Slytherin stand, who was watching his every move. Seneca made clear eye contact with him, and cocked his head. Regulus’ eyes widened, and he immediately looked away, focusing on a particular patch of grass on the field. Seneca turned back to Emmeline and rolled his eyes, confused and annoyed at the younger Black brother’s actions. 

Seneca’s heartbeat rapidly increased as Priya and the Hufflepuff captain shook hands, and when Madame Hooch blew her whistle, he could've sworn that it almost stopped. He rose into the air a few seconds behind the other Ravenclaws, and almost shriveled up in embarrassment. 

The game immediately took off, with Emmeline darting around, Amanda heading to her post, and Priya surveying the game while yelling out commands. 

Seneca flew off to the side, patrolling the arena, looking for any sign of the snitch. He continued to wait the required eighteen minutes, and when Madame Hooch finally blew her whistle, saying that the seekers could go, Seneca began to swoop around the stadium.

After about fifteen minutes of searching, and as Ravenclaw’s score failed to catch up to Hufflepuff’s, Seneca spotted a glint of gold out of the corner of his eye. He slowly made his way to ground level, still following the snitch with his eyes, and once he was clearly out of the eyesight of both the Hufflepuff seeker and most of the other players, he shot off, going as fast as his broom could go. The snitch was looping around the slytherin audience tower, and Seneca moved around the opposite side to catch it. Appearing to register his presence, the snitch increased in speed as it moved away from him, Seneca closely tailing it. It was at this point that Seneca realized the rest of the players had surmised what he was doing, and the Hufflepuff seeker was following him. 

Seneca wove back and forth between multiple towers, attempting to shake off the Hufflepuff girl, but to no avail. She was quite skilled, and the distance between them was shrinking. All of a sudden, it dawned on him that she wasn’t following the snitch, she was following him, she had no idea where it was. He began to turn down towards the field, still keeping an eye on the snitch. He rapidly accelerated, and roughly ten feet before he hit the ground, he shot straight up. The girl had to do the same, but instead ended up shooting off to the side, and nearly crashed into one of the stand beams. Seneca used this time to quickly catch up to the snitch, and the distance between him and the fluttering sphere rapidly closed. He extended his hand and reached out, and before he knew it, his hand had closed around cold metal, tiny wings beating in his hand. 

The Ravenclaw section burst into cheers, with scattered applause from the other house stands. One could not miss, however, the intense cheering from a specific row of the Gryffindor audience. Madame Hooch blew her whistle, and the announcer, who turned out to be Peter Pettigrew, announced Ravenclaw’s victory. Seneca slowly descended, landing next to Emmeline, who was already on the ground. Madame Hooch walked over to them with her hand extended towards him, and it took Seneca a second to realize she meant for him to give her the snitch. After handing it off, James and Sirius both crashed into him from either side. Marlene, Dorcas, and Mary were all wrapped around Emmeline, who was a violent shade of puce. After receiving compliment after compliment, the two Ravenclaws were greeted by Remus and Lily. 

“That was really brilliant, mate,” Remus said, smiling, while Lily simply pulled the four of them into a hug. 

The Ravenclaw party was actually quite fun, and it dawned upon Seneca that Ravenclaw’s reputation for being an uptight house was far from true. Several students had somehow managed to sneak in butterbeer, and there was a scent of weed in the common room, appearing to be emanating from one of the reading nooks. It honestly made sense that they had managed to sneak in so much stuff, their house did have a reputation for being smart. The Gryffindors came by for a bit, but just like it had happened to Emmeline and Seneca, they had to leave before too long. Seneca collapsed onto his bed, and immediately went to sleep, still in his Quidditch uniform.

The rest of January and February went by normally, with James again asking out Lily on Valentine’s Day, and her again vehemently declining. Gryffindor proceeded to beat Hufflepuff during a game in mid February, and Ravenclaw narrowly bested Slytherin in early march. The friends realized that this pitted them against each other, but they didn’t mind, in fact it seemed to draw them closer together. 

Remus continued to disappear once a month, and in March he returned with a particularly nasty scar across his nose and cheeks, and although no one asked about, he repeatedly stated that it was from a cooking accident. Seneca and James made eye contact as he said that, wondering if there was anything they could, or even should do. 

The inter-house Quidditch Championship game was scheduled for the first Saturday after the Easter holidays, which gave most of the players plenty of time to prepare, but also plenty of time to agnoise over what could happen. Seneca was happy to see his family, and the short vacation was quite nice. The Locklear family flooed to a small rental house by the sea in the Isles of Scilly, and they passed the days by frolicking in the water and lounging in the house and on the beach. As it turned out, all but roughly thirty residents there were aware of the magical community, having either been magical themselves, or married to the Isle’s numerous magical inhabitants. The Locklears stayed on one of the all-magical islands, so they could freely practice their magic without fear of punishment from the ministry, and Seneca was conveniently allowed to prepare for the inter-house cup. His parents made sure to let him know how proud of him they were, but he could tell they would rather him pursue his studies. His Dad was pleased with his improving Care of Magical Creatures marks, and Irene was incredibly proud of his top Potions marks. Instead of taking them to King’s Cross, Irene arranged for a floo connection to the castle itself, so when it was the day that school resumed, Seneca simply stood in the fireplace with his sister, while his parents waved goodbye. As it turned out, there were several dozen students whose parents routinely arranged for this, and Seneca and Nadia found themselves standing amidst a small crowd in one of the lesser-used halls. Before too long, they were ushered into the Great Hall by McGonagall, and shortly thereafter the other students arrived.

The week went by in a blur, with Seneca and the other students barely processing what was happening. Even the teachers seemed a bit distracted, especially McGonagall and Flitwick. Saturday approached quickly, and before he knew it, Seneca was standing next to Emmeline on the field, and Madame Hooch was blowing the whistle. This time, he got off the ground much faster than he had before, as did the rest of both teams. James and Emmeline dodged around each other, and both assisted in the scoring of numerous points. Marlene was an amazing beater, and it was even more obvious when you were on the field with her. 

Seneca was searching for the snitch, but it was nowhere to be found. Ravenclaw had only scored a dozen points, and by the forty-five minute mark, Gryffindor had passed one hundred and seventy-two. At this point, not only would Seneca need to capture the snitch, but Ravenclaw would need to score over twenty points. It was miserable, and no one had any idea how it had happened, both teams had seemed to be equally set for victory. 

When Gryffindor scored once again, putting them at 181, Seneca spotted the snitch. He shot towards it, tearing past the Gryffindor seeker, who quickly followed behind. Accelerating faster than he ever had before, Seneca lunged forward, and nearly missed. His fingers brushed the wings of the snitch, and before he knew it, he had the snitch in his hand and his broom was plummeting towards the ground. He quickly righted it and flew down towards the other players and handed over the snitch. He faintly heard over the speakers, “Gryffindor wins, 181-162,” but it was drowned out by the sound of his heart beating in his ears. 

Priya looked crestfallen, but when Amanda walked over and embraced her, she put on a stronger face, and walked over to the Gryffindor captain to thank them. Marlene was already lying down talking with Dorcas on a patch of grass near the stands, and James was in the middle of animatedly discussing the game with Sirius. Emmeline looked a bit disappointed but not that sad, as was Seneca. The two went over to talk with Mary, Lily, and Remus, but eventually split apart when the Gryffindors went back to help get James and Sirius off of the pitch. 

Seneca and Emmeline ate at the feast with their friends, and declined an invitation to the Gryffindor victory party, choosing to avoid the awkwardness and get to sleep early. Seneca was happy that his friends were happy, but he couldn’t help but be upset over Ravenclaw’s loss. Seemingly reflecting their feelings, the common room was completely silent, and the few students that were still out looked tired and annoyed. After a long shower, Seneca went to sleep, and dreamed about snitches and feasts. 

Just like it had gone for the rest of the year, April and May slowly inched by, with Remus’ continued disappearances. One small difference was the increasingly stressed mood of the seventh-years, which, this time around, included Narcissa. The fifth years seemed equally as panicked, and the whole school sat on edge until the testing days in early June. 

As it happened, the full moon fell on the first weekend of June, so Seneca, James, and Sirius went to find Remus. 

James had to repeatedly explain that Seneca knew already and could be trusted, and although Sirius verbally agreed, it was very clear he did not put very much trust in Seneca. Remus was nowhere to be found, and after an hour of searching, the only place they could think of was the hospital wing. They waited around a corner for madame Pomfrey to leave, and then darted into the airy room. Spotting a screen with the shadow of a person lying down in a hospital bed behind it, Sirius ran over, and pulled back the screen.

At the sight of Remus, Seneca involuntarily gagged, and James and Sirius paled significantly (how that was possible with Sirius' pasty condition, Seneca had no idea). The boy had bleeding claw marks all over his limbs, and both of his eyes were swollen shut. There was a massive bandage across a cut that appeared to nearly loop around his neck, and what looked like handcuff burns on his wrists and ankles. Seneca stumbled backwards, but then jumped away in fright when he bumped into a body. 

“And what are _you_ doing here,” Madame Pomfrey said, seething at them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before I write third year (and second year summer), there are a couple of things I want to go back to first year and rewrite (mostly the New York trip).  
> \+ The tense that I’m using is kind of all over the place, some is in present tense and some is in past, sorry about that. When I come back to edit this chapter, I’ll try to clean that up.  
> \+ Also I’m using celsius instead of fahrenheit, so 15ºC is roughly 60ºF  
> \+ Next chapter is going to be from another character’s POV, probably either Regulus or Remus (Maybe James).  
> \+ I kinda added a tiny bit of James/OMC here but I’m not going to continue it, it’s just serving as an awakening.


	5. Second Year, Summer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The summer of second year told from Remus’ POV.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is quite short, there wasn’t a ton to write about. I should have another chapter out hopefully by next Friday.

**TW:** Serious injuries, mentions of abuse, marital problems.

Remus lay in agony in the hospital bed. Whatever Madame Pomfrey had given him made some of the pain go away, but he still felt absolutely horrible. He heard the sound of the curtain blocking his usual bed from the rest of the wing opening, the metal rings scraping across the bar. Then he heard two gasps and a gagging sound. 

With the limited vision that he had, Remus could see three dark shapes obscuring the glow of the light. Then a fourth appeared in the background, and he realized that it was Madame Pomfrey.

“And what are  _ you  _ doing here.” Madame Pomfrey asked, angrier than Remus had ever heard her.

“I don’t remember giving you,  _ Mr. Black and Mr. Potter _ , permission to visit Mr. Lupin. And do you have  _ any idea _ how dangerous it is to expose his situation to another student?” Remus had no idea who this other student was, he had thought it was Peter. A strangled gasp escaped his throat, and Madame Pomfrey grew even more angry. 

“You’re distressing him! Do you not see the state he’s in? Do you not understand why I  _ explicitly  _ told you  _ this morning _ not to come here? And do you, Mr. Locklear, have any sense of rationality? I thought you were a Ravenclaw?”

At least it was Seneca, Remus thought, it could’ve been worse. Seneca sounded like he was about to speak, but James interrupted him, “Madame, he already knew. He figured it out this winter”.

“And that’s supposed to be a  _ good thing _ ?” Madame Pomfrey cried. “Get out of here. All of you. I don’t want to see you here again the rest of the year. There’s only two more weeks left so it shouldn’t be  _ that _ difficult”.

As he heard the three boys shuffle away, Remus felt Madame Pomfrey’s hand on his face, 

“ _ Mae’n iawn annwyl _ ,” She said gently in Welsh, comforting him.

Remus tried to speak, but no sound came out. He then started to silently cry, and Madame Pomfrey got up to get a calming draught and a sleeping potion. 

“There, there,  _ cariad _ ”.

Remus drank the two concoctions, and slowly drifted away to sleep. 

As it turned out, he didn’t return to classes until Friday, because of how bad the wounds were. Even then, he had to wear a full-neck bandage, and he could barely see. It was also hard for him to write, and Madame Pomfrey had felt horrible about her idea to chain him to the wall. She had thought it would be enough to keep him from hurting himself, but the wolf had dislocated his thumbs in order to break out. 

His Professors were especially careful around him, and even though he knew they were trying to help, Remus found it incredibly annoying. They were only making his ‘condition’ more obvious, and although the official story was that he was in a muggle car accident when he was visiting his Mum, he couldn’t help but feel that everyone was suspicious of him. 

James and Sirius tried to talk to him, but Remus was annoyed that they had told Seneca. Even though Seneca figured it out on his own, it was still wrong of them to confirm his theory. 

Remus wasn’t mad at Seneca though. He hadn’t done anything wrong, he had just looked at the facts and found the problem. 

It must’ve been the next Wednesday, two days before the last day of school, when Remus finally cracked.

“I thought maybe you could come to my place this summer,” James was saying to him and Sirius.

“James, you know I can’t. And with more people now knowing about my ‘ _ furry little problem _ ’, as you so lightly put it, I need to keep it under wraps”.

James looked a bit taken aback at Remus’ sudden outburst, “Are you alright there, mate?”

“Aside from the fact that yet another person knows information that could result in a life sentence in Azkaban for me, sure”.   
“You know we’re sorry,” James said, glancing towards Sirius, “We keep telling you that it was a mistake and we know we’re not allowed to talk about it without your permission”.

“You still did. I’m not angry at you. It’s just going to take me a bit to get past it. Anyways, I need to go meet with Professor Sprout about next year’s course. Bye,” he said, with a curt wave. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Remus saw Sirius and James looking absolutely miserable, and even though he wanted to say something, he knew they needed the consequences of their actions to fully sink in.

After leaving Professor Sprout’s office, Remus started heading back towards Gryffinor tower. As he made his way down a hallway, he rounded a corner, and ran straight into Seneca. The boy dropped the textbook he was carrying, before looking up and realising it was Remus he had run into. Seneca paled considerably, making the freckles on his cheekbones stand out quite starkly. Before he was able to say anything, Remus cut him off, “I know you’re sorry. I’m not mad at you, you didn’t do anything wrong. Just don’t tell anyone. Ever”.

Before Seneca was even able to speak, Remus briskly walked past him, taking several flights of steps up to the Gryffindor entrance.

He muttered the password, and stormed through the common room, past Marlene and Dorcas, who sprang away from each other on the couch at his presence. 

Entering his dorm room, he slammed his papers down on his trunk and screamed in frustration. 

“I can leave if you want.”

Remus blinked and looked over. He hadn’t even realized Peter was in the room with him. 

“It’s quite alright. I was going to take a shower anyway”.

Peter nodded and went back to stuffing clothes in his trunk. Remus had no idea why he was already packing, but to be honest, he didn’t really care. Frankly, the boy was annoying and lacked any determination or redeemable qualities. Remus just felt bad for him, considering how Sirius treated him. It wasn’t that Sirius was necessarily  _ mean _ to Peter, he just took every opportunity he could to point out Peter’s failures, and make the mousy-looking boy appear to be even more of an incapable idiot. 

Remus shrugged the thoughts away, and stepped into the bathroom. Stripping out of his robes, he stared at his new scars in the mirror. He knew his Mom would be horrified to find out, and his Dad would probably be even more disgusted with his son. His Dad. Remus couldn’t stand Lyall, the old bastard was the reason Remus was a monster in the first place, yet he took out his shame by blaming his son for every problem he encountered, ‘I got fired from my job, it’s your fault because I have to spend so much time caring for you’, or ‘The neighbors won’t talk to us anymore, probably because they realize what you are’. Nevermind the fact that the neighbors were muggles and never talked to them in the first place, and that Lyall was fired from the Ministry for his increasingly worsening Alcohol problem. Remus seethed at the thought of his father, and stepped into the shower, turning to water up to maximum heat. His scars burned, and his skin reddened, but Remus stood, head leaned against the wall, crying. 

On Friday, Remus decided to indulge his friends just a bit, and act friendly and kind. Even though he was still incredibly annoyed by them, there wasn’t much else he could say. They had apologized multiple times, and expressed quite genuinely how they never meant to expose him, but Remus was hurt. He brushed his betrayal aside, and made his way to the great hall. Sirius and James beamed at the sight of him, moving so that there was a spare seat for Remus in between the two of them. Remus had no intention of sitting there, “Seneca, do you need a seat?”

Seneca looked up in confusion, already sitting in between Lily and Emmeline.

“No he doesn’t. Seneca, don’t sit here,” James said. 

“I think he would like it.” James and Sirius’ faces fell, and Seneca’s twisted into a grimace.

“I’d rather you not use me as a pawn in your argument. I realize I’m technically a part of it, but this concerns only you guys. Sort it out” Seneca stated, before resuming his conversation with the two girls. 

Remus sighed and slowly took a seat between his two closest ‘friends’. He hated to admit it, but Seneca had a point. 

Sirius cast a muffling charm around the three of them, and started talking, “Remus, we’re so sorry-”

“Don’t,” Remus interrupted, “I’ve heard it so many times. I don’t need to hear it again. There’s nothing else left to say; I’m not angry. Can we please eat the bloody food?”

Sirius and James looked at him tentatively for a moment, before turning back to their meals. Remus sighed. It was going to be harder to get things with them back to normal, and especially so over the summer. 

On Saturday morning, Remus woke up early, and finished putting the last of his things in his trunk, even his secret chocolate stash from his dresser. Peter and James had already packed, and were still fast asleep. So was Sirius, although, as usual, he had neglected to pack his belongings until the last minute. Remus rolled his eyes, and quietly stepped out of the dorm, heading to the great hall. 

He arrived in the hall just five minutes after students were allowed to be out of the dorms, so there were only a couple dozen students eating quietly at their respective tables. And of course, Seneca was the only one from his table that was awake. ‘Just great,’ Remus thought. 

He sat down one seat away from Seneca, and tapped a spoon on his plate. A bagel appeared on his plate, and for a second, Remus was amazed by whatever spells the castle used to determine exactly what he wanted for breakfast. Instead, he was distracted by Seneca’s choked reaction to his food. Looking back at his plate in confusion, Remus realized with a start that the bagel was very clearly New Yorker in origin. 

“Nice bagel, right?” Remus asked.

Seneca quietly nodded. 

“You know you don’t have to maintain this silent front with me. I’m not mad at you,” Remus said. 

Seneca looked up, and quietly said, “I just feel really guilty. Even if I was 100% sure about it, I shouldn’t have brought it up with James. I’m sorry”.

“It’s okay mate, seriously”,

“Okay..” Seneca said, cautiously. 

It was at that moment that Mary, Marlene, Dorcas and Lily came running over, completely unaware of what they had just interrupted. 

“Oi, good morning lads!” Mary half-shouted.    
Remus couldn't help but smile. Maybe today wouldn’t be that bad of a day. 

He ended up sitting with James, Sirius, and Peter during the journey to King’s Cross, although it was incredibly awkward, and none of them talked very much. 

When he arrived at the train station, he looked for his parents, and to his surprise, found only his mother. 

“Mom?”

She looked very tired and sad, but brighted and the sight of her son, “ _ Cariad _ , come with me, there’s a lot we must talk about”.

After a quick and awkward goodbye to his friends, Remus followed his mother out of the station. Instead of walking to the car park like they normally did, she led him to the local tube station.    
“Where’s Dad?”

She pursed her lips, “Now, Remmi, I don’t know how else to put this”.   
“What?”

“Lyall and I aren’t together anymore. The court ruled in my favor, and I have full custody. We’re living in London for the week until I’m able to sort out our permanent residence”.

Remus almost collapsed as they stepped onto the train, staggering over to one of the plastic seats. 

“What do you mean?” 

“We didn’t love each other anymore,  _ Cariad _ . And he was changing, not for the better”.

Remus leaned back. He had known this was coming, he had heard his parents argue nearly every day over the easter hols, and had seen them like that since as early as the summer before first year. He had just wanted everything to stay the same, with no changes. Even if he wasn’t happy, this change completely shattered his already fragile sense of stability. 

“What about Dad?”

“The court is making him go to addiction recovery, for his alcoholism,” Hope choked on the word, tears blooming in her eyes, “If he passes revision next June he may be permitted visiting hours”.

Remus’s eyes began to water as well, so he blinked the tears away. 

“What about my  _ problem _ ? You can’t do magic”.

At this, Hope gave a tiny smile.    
“Actually, I’ve been talking to Poppy and Albus. We’ve arranged for Poppy to apparate to our property to help you heal and recuperate”.

“Thank you so much, Mum”.

Then Remus realized something, “Our property?”

Hope perked up, and reached into her purse for a folder. 

“I bought us a small cottage in a wizarding village. Ottery St. Catchpole is the name of the town, I think. These are some photographs of the house”.

Remus quickly looked through the pictures in the portfolio. It was a small, white bricked cottage, with ivy covering most of it. There were two small windows poking out of the roof in the front, and a tiny sunroom on the back. It was adorable, and reminded him of his grandma’s house. He leaned against his Mom, and held her tight. 

After their quick week in London, Hope and Remus moved out to Ottery St. Catchpole. The village and its inhabitants were quite nice, and the house was just as cute as Remus had thought it would be. He couldn’t fully enjoy it though, because he was constantly thinking about his Dad. 

He didn’t necessarily want Lyall to be there, in fact quite the opposite, he just felt odd without his Dad’s presence. He didn’t  _ really _ miss his Dad, but the fact that neither he nor his mother had heard from Lyall in weeks was troubling. That was quickly overshadowed by his first transformation in the new house, and Hope showed him the new space she had set up. There was a stone cellar underneath the house that had a small storage room, with a secure door. When the moon came, Remus went inside the room, and he heard a cacophony of noises as his Mom secured the numerous locks. Slowly stepping towards the cot that was laid out for him, Remus stripped out of his clothes, and stowed them under the bed. He lay down on the semi-soft surface, and waited for the transformation.

After lying there for nearly fifteen minutes, he could feel it starting. Not that he hadn’t before, because he could feel it in his bones and mind nearly the entire day, increasing by the hour. But it was at this point that the actual change was beginning. His bones popped and scraped against their sockets, his skin stretched, and his teeth grew. Remus screamed in agony, and he hoped the silencing spells Madame Pomfrey had put over the cellar the other day would hold. 

For almost thirty minutes, Remus continued to scream, although the noises coming from his mouth gradually turned into howls. Eventually, he had no control or awareness of what was going on. 

Remus awoke on the floor in a pool of blood. His right arm felt like it was on fire, and when he tried to get up, he realized it was completely broken. He used his good arm to drag himself over to his clothes, and slowly pulled on his pants, and completely ignored his shirt. He knew that would be far from possible to put on. Then he curled up in a ball on the floor, shivering. Blood continued to leak from a massive cut across his chest, and right when he felt he was going to pass out, he heard Madame Pomfrey outside the door.

“Remus? Are you there?”

Remus responded weakly, and when the noises of the locks opening stopped, Madame Pomfrey stepped in. She gasped at the sight of him, and turned around towards Hope.

In a hushed voice, she told his mother that she probably shouldn’t come in, that it wouldn’t be a good idea. Clearly, Hope ignored her, and stepped into the dark, damp room. She gave a cry of anguish, and fell against the doorframe. Poppy steadied her, and then took her bag over to Remus. 

Immediately after stopping the bleeding, she repaired his nose, which was somehow broken; “Episkey,” she muttered. 

She then used her wand for a medley of healing spells, healing his arm and numerous smaller cuts and bruises in no time. 

Then it came time for the magical wounds. The ones the Wolf did to itself. She spread several ointments over the groove in his chest, and forced what felt like a dozen different potions down his throat. His chest burned, and as tears started falling from his eyes, Remus passed out. 

This same routine continued over the entire summer; once a month, he would lock himself in the cellar storage room, and tear himself apart, before putting himself back together again. The first moon was the worst, and none of the subsequent times were as bad. In between his transformations, Remus spent most of his time at home, turning down invitations from his friends. He went outside and explored the town several times, and recognized at least two dozen students from Hogwarts. He quickly ran back home, and made a mental note of which streets to avoid. 

Eventually, he caved in to James’ requests, and agreed to meet him, Sirius, and Peter in Diagon Alley on the last Saturday of the year. Hope was excited to get him out of the house, although she was worried to venture into the magical world. Even though she would never admit it, Hope was terrified of running into Lyall. It’s not that he would hurt either of them, although Remus personally wouldn’t put it past the man, but rather, she wouldn't be able to emotionally handle seeing him. 

Hope decided to drive into London, as ‘The floo network is too confusing’, and also because she wanted to stop at the grocer’s on the way back. The traffic was just as bad as usual, and they arrived outside of the Leaky Cauldron nearly thirty minutes after their planned arrival. Remus led his mother, who had started shaking at the sight of the place she had been so many times with Lyall, to the brick wall that composed the entrance to the Alley. Remus waited for another wizard to open the barrier, and he and his mother followed through. 

James and Sirius were very excited to see him, and Peter looked somewhat oblivious, as usual. After popping into nearly every store, and helping James pick out a new broom (‘My current one is old and weird,’ James said), Remus returned to his Mum, who was sitting next to Euphemia and making awkward conversation. 

“Well, Goodbye Euphemia,” Hope said.

“Bye James, bye Sirius, bye Peter!” Remus said. 

He realized that he had to look down at all three of his friends now, and understood just how much his height had increased over the Summer. James wasn’t that much shorter than him, but Sirius and Peter were; Sirius must’ve been at least 20cm shorter than him, and Remus found it quite funny, to Sirius’ great displeasure. 

“Bye!” All three of them responded, albeit Peter on a much mellower note. Euphemia waved goodbye to the two of them and then led the three boys over to the floo station. 

Remus and Hope quickly made their way back to the car.

“ _ Cariad _ , are you and your friends doing okay with each other?”

Remus’ blood chilled. He knew he could never tell her; she wouldn’t want him to hang out with James and maybe even Sirius ever again.

“Nothing, I just haven’t seen them in a while”.

She raised her eyebrows, but decided to drop the subject, and started the car.

The next day was quite uneventful, and primarily occupied by Remus’ packing. Hope helped him quite a lot, as it was hard for him to find room for everything in his trunk; he wasn’t good about space management. 

The night before the first day of third year, Remus went to sleep with a smile on his face for the first time in months. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this definitely was not very long, but I wanted to finish it ASAP because I'm just trying to get to a point where I can start building the romantic relationships.   
> Also, I plan to eventually come back to this chapter and edit it, adding more detail to the Diagon Alley trip. I’m also going to Delay the chapter 1 edit to then as well.   
> Have a nice day! Feedback and corrections are always appreciated!


	6. Third Year, Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Third year, September-Winter Holidays, from Sirius’ POV.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick Reminder: I do not own these characters, JK Rowling does. However, I still think she is a disgusting person with horrible views.  
> I’m going to try to get third year done asap, I have a lot in store for 4th and 5th year :)  
> SEE TEMPORARY UPDATE.

**TW: Abuse, Wounds**

Sirius was the happiest he’d been all Summer. Really, it was the only time he had been happy since the end of second year. His parents had been especially horrid to him over the summer, when they found out who he was friends with; “ _A blood traitor, AND a half-blood? You disgrace the Black family name”_ , his mother had said. 

They hadn’t even let him or Reg go to Diagon Alley that year, as Walburga had ordered all of their school supplies through an Owl catalogue. 

But now, he was finally going back to Hogwarts. Walburga and Orion grabbed each of their children by the shoulder, delegating the trunk-carrying to the house elf, Kreacher, who was using his limited magic to levitate the luggage to the front door. 

Walburga looked down at Sirius, and pinched his arm to get his attention. A normal child probably would’ve cried at the force she used, but Sirius was used to far worse. 

“Gather your things. Now,” she commanded. Regulus did the same, always the ‘perfect child’, Sirius thought. 

When Sirius had loaded his items onto one of the ancient wooden rolling carts that his parents had prepared, his Mother latched her claw-like hands onto his shoulders, and apparated him to a small Wizarding shopping center that was adjacent to Kings Cross. 

Brunswick Alley had a notoriously dark reputation, albeit high-brow, and as a result, many light and neutral families chose to apparate into nearby alleyways, or simply use muggle transportation, rather than risk an uncomfortable situation. 

Sirius quite liked apparition, mostly because it was one of the few times he didn’t have to feel anything. Or rather, he wasn’t in pain. There was only the feeling of the twisting and turning, and nothing of the various bruises and cuts on his body. 

He snapped back to reality when they appeared on a dark-bricked street, with the familiar imposing slate-faced buildings surrounding them on all sides, save for a large revolving door at one end of the alley. There was a metal-wrought glass dome over the alley, which was honestly more of a roundabout; considering everything was arranged around a circular promenade. 

Orion led the family ahead, his dark cloak fluttering behind him. They pushed through the revolving doors, and appeared in what would appear to muggles as an energy capacitor station, and the noises of Kings Cross Square filled Sirius’ ears. The few muggles that were around at 10 o’clock on a Monday stared at Orion and Walburga’s outlandish and incredibly old-fashioned outfits.

The family of four hurried across the square, the parents pushing their sons the whole way. They rushed through the muggle portion of the station, Walburga glaring at everyone they passed. 

Immediately after passing through the barrier, Sirius was met with a familiar face, and almost leapt forward. Even though it wasn’t James, Sirius was still glad that he had ran into Seneca and his family, minus his Dad.

Irene turned around and looked back at Walburga, eyes narrowing. Nadia was busy talking to a small girl, who Sirius vaguely remembered being named Fazia, and Seneca was analyzing the family from a distance. Sirius noticed that his eyes rested on Regulus for a fraction of a second longer than what was normal. 

“Ah, the Americans,” Walburga sneered. 

“Careful, Walburga. You wouldn’t want a diplomatic incident on your hands, now, would you?” Irene said, with a dangerously icy tone. 

With her striking height, and long black hair, Irene was a very imposing presence, and Sirius did not miss his mother shrink back a bit at her words. 

Irene continued, fixing a pointed glare on both Walburga and Orion, “Considering your current legal battles, and with the way word is traveling around the Ministry, I would watch your step. The _things_ you are getting involved with are not something that will reflect well on you, nor your children, for that matter,” she said, pointedly, then led Nadia and Seneca over to the train. 

Sirius looked back at his parents, expecting to see them fuming, but instead they both looked afraid, somehow. Sirius had never seen them being scared of something, so he knew Irene’s threats must’ve held actual merit. 

Instead of her usual lecture and jab in the arm, Walburga just waved him and Regulus off towards the train. As soon as they were out of earshot, Regulus spoke up, “What was that about? Are Mother and Father alright?”

“Clearly not,” Sirius snorted, rolling his eyes, “It must be about what all their meetings over the summer were for”.

Regulus glared at him, “Mother and Father are perfectly innocent. The stupid Americans don’t know what they’re talking about”.

“I bet Irene’s magic is more powerful than anyone we know, and Seneca is the smartest person in our grade. And you’re just repeating what you heard Mother say,” Sirius countered. 

“Whatever. I’m sitting with Severus. Goodbye”.

“Oi, why are you bloody sitting with Snivellus,” Sirius asked. 

Regulus punched his arm, and said with a sickly-sweet tone, “Don’t be mean, _brother dearest_ ”.

Sirius rolled his eyes again, far from intimidated, and slid back the door to the compartment James, Remus and Peter were in. 

The year was already off to a great start, and Sirius was smiling within minutes, his face lighting up his silver eyes. 

September went off without a hitch; Sirius’ class schedule was mostly pretty good, and he was pleased to learn he had gotten both of his elective choices, Care of Magical Creatures and Muggle Studies, which he had chosen to piss off his parents. It wasn’t too long before some Slytherin, likely Regulus, informed on him, and Sirius received a howler from his _dearest Mother_. It wasn’t much of a surprise, there was almost nothing he could do without getting a howler for it. 

He did well enough in his classes, at least enough to temporarily skate by. Sirius would occasionally wonder out loud why he wasn’t doing well, and Lily, Remus, Seneca, and Emmeline would try to invite him to their study group, which he would immediately turn down. 

“And you wonder why you’re not doing so well,” Remus joked. 

However, in mid-October, things took a much more interesting turn. 

They were doing a ‘lab’ of sorts in DADA with the new professor; Professor Kasir, was actually the former Ravenclaw Quidditch captain. She was quite excited to begin her new position, although because of the unluckiness surrounding the post, she already had a new job set up for the next year. 

As the students shuffled in, she had them stand up by the far wall, leaving a large space in the middle where the desks had been pushed aside. In the center of the room was a large trunk. 

“Good morning everybody! Welcome to our first live-class experience of the year! Who’s excited?” Priya said, animatedly. 

There was a collective murmur, and Priya sarcastically responded, “Great, me too. Anyways, can anyone tell me what this is?” she asked, pointing at the large trunk on the floor, which subsequently vibrated. Everyone was silent.

“No one?”

Emmeline piped up, “Is it a boggart?”

“Very good Ms. Vance. Ten points to Ravenclaw! Now does anyone know how you defeat a boggart?”

Again, nothing. 

Priya sighed, and launched into her whole lesson plan on defeating boggarts, explaining the charm several times. After roughly fifteen minutes of explanation, she decided that they were ready to begin.

“Now remember, _Riddi-ku-lus_ ”.

Everyone slowly nodded, and she stepped over to the trunk, “Now, I’m going to open this, but first, you all need to form into a line. Be ready to say it, ‘Riddikulus’”.

The class slowly formed a mess of a line, with James in front, as usual. 

Professor Kasir unlatched the trunk, and to everyone’s surprise, Severus climbed out. Although, it wasn’t quite Severus. He was a bit more handsome, and his hair was less greasy, and in his right hand, he was holding the Quidditch House Cup. James took a step backwards, and sensing his fear, the boggart changed slightly, a version of Lily appeared next to the Severus-thing. It promptly kissed her directly on the mouth, making eye contact with James the whole time.  
With a disgusted sneer rising on his face, James half-shouted, “Riddikulus”, and Snape’s hair immediately fell out. The Lily-thing vanished, as did the quidditch cup, and when the Snape-boggart opened its mouth to speak, a pair of dentures fell out. 

“Very good, Mr. Potter. Moving on, Ms. Meadowes.”

The line went on like that, with Lily glaring at James the entire time she waited in line. 

As soon as Professor Kasir could step away for a second, she called Remus out to the hall. Sirius wondered where they were going, and sent James a confused look. James shrugged, and returned to staring at Lily. She glanced around for a sign of Professor Kasir, and flipped off James. Mary and Marlene laughed, and Dorcas rolled her eyes. 

When Remus and Priya stepped back in, he walked over to sit next to James. Sirius cocked his head at them, and Remus mouthed ‘Explain later’. 

Sirius’ attention snapped back to the actual activity, and he realized that he was second in line. 

Right at that moment, Priya called out, “Alright, Mr. Locklear, your turn”.

Sirius watched Seneca, who didn’t look nearly as nervous as some of the other students, although his skin was unusually pale. 

The boggart, which had temporarily been turned into a giant strawberry, began to morph into a new form. 

The room took on a deep blue light, and the sound of crashing waves filled everyone’s ears. All of a sudden, a massive wave rose up from where the boggart had been before, and crashed down on top of Seneca and the students closer to the front of the line. It was obvious that Seneca couldn’t move or speak in the water, but the other students appeared to be perfectly fine, just scared. 

Seneca struggled against the water, and then opened his mouth. Bubbles came out, and Sirius faintly heard ‘ _Riddikulus_ ’, before the wave shrunk down and turned into a fish, flopping on the floor of the classroom. Seneca wasn’t even wet, and the room had lost it’s odd lighting and sound. 

“Well.. that was... something. Nice spell-work Mr. Locklear,” Priya said, slowly. 

“Thank you,” Professor, he mumbled, walking over to the bench where James and Remus were sitting. 

“What the bloody hell was that?” Sirius heard James whisper to Seneca. 

Before he could hear the answer, Professor Kasir called Sirius up to the trunk. 

“Mr. Black? Are you ready?”

Sirius nodded, and the volleyball began to swirl and change, before appearing as three people. Walburga and Orion stood over a small, bleeding body on the floor. Regulus. 

Sirius tried to spell them away, but he couldn’t even speak. 

The boggart-forms of his parents rounded on him, slowly stepping over. 

It was like he was at home, and his vision tunneled. The noise in the room faded to a distant thrum, and Sirius mentally prepared himself to be beaten senseless, just as they did almost every day. 

“Riddikulus!” Priya shouted as she shoved in front of him, and right as the boggart morphed to appear as the corpse of Amanda, it turned into a bag of moldy oranges. 

“Well, that’s enough for today. Class is dismissed early, hopefully we can continue on Thursday. Mr. Black, can you stay back for just a second?”

Sirius waved goodbye to his friends, and Priya invited him up to her office. 

“Biscuit?” Shs asked.

“No thank you.” Sirius responded, quietly.

“Now Sirius, that Boggart was very troubling. Is everything all right at home? I know those were your parents and brother”.

“Everything’s fine. Can I leave?”

She looked at him with a calculating gaze, before slowly responding, “If that is what you want. Just know that I and the other staff are here if you need to talk”.

“Thank you,” Sirius mumbled as he left the classroom. 

As soon as he stepped into the hallway, he ran into James, Remus, and Peter. 

“What the bloody hell was that?” James questioned. 

“It was nothing,” Sirius responded, annoyed at all the scrutinization on what had just happened.

“Yes it was. Why was Regulus like that? And why were your parents hurting him?” Remus asked. 

“It was just a fear.”

“Did you not hear Professor Kasir say that your fears come from real life experiences?”  
Sirius swallowed, “I heard that. But this isn’t like that.”

“Is that why you had all those bruises at the beginning of the year?” Remus asked, quietly. 

Sirius defensively pulled his arms towards his chest. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

James sighed, “Yes you do. We’re not that oblivious. Well except for Peter, here.”

Peter, who had been zoned out the whole time, blinked and quickly turned towards them, “Huh?”

Sirius rolled his eyes. 

“It’s not that big of a deal. It’s normal.”

“No it’s not,” Seneca said as he appeared around the corner.  
“And where were you?” Sirius asked, with a more venomous tone than he intended. 

Seneca raised his eyebrows, but continued, “I was talking to Emmeline. And under MACUSA law, and probably Ministry as well, that is considered child abuse, and is very illegal.”

“Well, I’m fine. Don’t ask me about it.”

James put his hands up in mock-surrender, although judging by his facial expression, it was very far from over. 

Itching to move the conversation away from himself, Sirius turned to Seneca.  
“What the fuck was your Boggart?”

Seneca sighed and closed his eyes, before explaining, “It was a rip current. I almost drowned in one when I was seven.”

“How did it happen?” Peter asked. 

“Don't ask that, Peter,” Sirius said, sharply, annoyed that the boy was just asking Seneca about his trauma so directly. 

Seneca looked over at Peter, and explained with a note of annoyance in his voice, “My family went to the seaside in Delaware when I was seven. It was kind of stormy outside, and I was looking for shells in the sand. My parents weren’t paying attention, and a wave crashed onto me. I got sucked out into the water, almost a hundred feet out, before my Mom dove in and used magic to save me, because none of the lifeguards were on duty. We’re lucky no muggles saw her.”

“Well that’s horrible,” James said quickly, “Are any of you lot hungry?” 

“James it’s four o’clock.” Remus said. 

“So?”

Sirius relaxed back to his normal state, shoving aside all thoughts of the Boggart. He hated when his friends pressed him on emotional things, especially if they involved his family.

The four boys, minus Seneca, who had gone back to Ravenclaw tower to study, ran down to the kitchens, ignorant to the growing dark forces outside of the school. 

It was the week after the Halloween feast when Sirius learned something he would’ve very much preferred not to. 

He, James, Peter, and Remus were sitting at the table, as they were the first ones to wake up for once (although it was for a prank, but Sirius wasn’t going to say that), when Seneca walked in, looking incredibly shaken. 

“Oi, mate, what’s wrong?” James called out. 

Some of the other students glared at him, it was still early in the morning, and not everyone was ready for that level of volume. 

Seneca sat down and circled his temples with his fingertips, “You can’t tell anyone, okay?”

“What?” James asked, and Seneca stared at the four boys pointedly. 

“Okay, we swear. Now what happened?” Sirius asked. 

Seneca took a deep breath, before saying “I saw McGonagall..”

“Yes, we all see her normally,” Remus said.

“No. I went to get a transfiguration document for my project from her class, I didn’t think I needed an appointment.”

“ _So you got a detention_?” James nearly laughed. 

Seneca rolled his eyes, although the motion lacked its usual air of annoyance.

“I saw her. And Madame Pomfrey.”

“Yeah, I know, they’re friends,” Remus supplied. 

“Kissing,” Seneca said, with a monotone. 

James choked, Sirius’ eyes widened, and Remus blinked rapidly, 

“They _WHAT_?” James exclaimed, which was met with more glares from the other students in the hall. 

Seneca shushed him; “I said keep it down. I think they don’t want many people to know.”

“Well now that I think about it, they are cute together,” Remus said. 

“Mate, how are you already chill with this? We _just_ found out? And they’re two old ladies?” Sirius asked, still reeling from Seneca’s revelation. 

Then Peter piped up, “How can they be dating if they’re both girls?”

Remus stiffened, before responding, “Anyone can date anyone, as long as both of them consent and are of age. The whole ‘only a woman and a man’ thing is so archaic”.

“Well I think it’s not normal,” Peter said, defiantly. 

“Muggles think it’s abnormal. Are you a muggle?” Remus asked, preying on Peter’s fear of non-wizards. 

“No, it’s just that-” Peter started quickly, before Sirius interrupted him, “Well, now that _that’s_ over with, how on earth did you even bloody see them? And are you sure it was romantic?”

“They were full-on kissing on the lips by the window. While the sun was rising. That doesn’t sound platonic to me”.

Before Sirius could say anything else, Lily and the other Gryffindor girls came trudging in, and Seneca made a quick gesture with his hand, and whispered for them to ‘shut it’.

Sirius didn’t talk much of breakfast, instead he was processing Seneca’s revelation. It honestly made a lot of sense, especially because it was common knowledge among the student body that McGonagall and Pomfrey lived in a cottage in Hogsmeade together. Now that he thought about it, he had seen them together many times, including on Valentines Day the previous year. He filed those thoughts away to tell James later, and listened back into the conversation, wanting to appear as innocent as possible when the Slytherins came in. 

However, they never came, and the other students were glancing around, confused. 

It must’ve been when the clock struck 8:15; over an hour past the start of breakfast when the first slytherins entered the hall. Their skin was all covered with bright pink spots, almost like massive polka-dots. Several students with lighter hair now appeared to have pink hair, and two fourth-year’s eyes were pink. 

‘It really was worth it to raid the Potions cabinet,’ Sirius thought, as McGonagall stormed over to their table. 

The next week, after being given two month’s detentions for the ‘travesty committed against Slytherin House’ (in the words of McGonagall), Sirius was in an even worse mood than usual. Not only would it be harder for Sirius and his friends to find free time, but they had entered the ‘partial-human magical creatures’ unit, as it had been named by the ministry. The main focus of the unit was protection against werewolves, and Remus had not taken it well. Even though Professor Kasir had given him permission to miss that specific class, he was constantly worrying about the possibility that other students would realize, just like Seneca had.

His attitude was rubbing off on James and Sirius too, and none of the three were feeling happy at all. Peter, of course, had been so oblivious to their situation, that he didn’t seem to care at all. Sirius wondered why they even talked to the boy. 

When the day came, Remus spent the entire day in bed, not even coming down for breakfast. When Dorcas asked where he was, Sirius simply said that he was sick, and although most everyone fell for it, Seneca gave them a knowing look. 

Class started fairly normally, with Professor Kasir requesting for them to “Take out your textbooks, and turn to page 394,” before launching into a forty-minute lecture on werewolves, and how to notice and defend yourself against them. She did, however, state numerous times that werewolves were not inherently bad, and that they were ‘just as human as any of us’. 

It was painfully obvious when she was saying the ministry-required facts, which ranged from blanket statements, to all-out fear-mongering, and when she was saying what she actually knew and believed. 

Sirius didn’t pay that much attention, he already knew most of the information, and he didn’t even want to hear it anyways. 

It must’ve been towards the very end of her speech that Sirius picked up one sentence he had never heard before; “Werewolves, when they are transformed, will never attack animals. They only attack humans, if they are given the opportunity”.

Before he had a chance to ask her a question about it, Professor Kasir had split them into groups so that they could quiz each other on what they had learned. 

Lily was particularly surprised by his knowledge on the subject, asking “Did you actually pay attention in class today?”

Sirius ignored her, and silently wondered what James saw in her, she was kind of annoying and self-righteous. In fact, Sirius had never really had a crush on anyone. At least, not from what he could tell. James had Lily, and that was very obvious, same with Alice and Frank. 

There was definitely something between Marlene and Dorcas, and Mary would act very differently around Emmeline, leading Sirius to believe that she had a crush on her. Even Peter seemed to have a mutual crush on a girl in Slytherin. 

It had taken him a bit to realize that the purist narrative his parents had fed him; that heterosexuality was all that was natural, wasn’t true. Once he had realized that, it became obvious that everyone had someone, except for him. Well, actually, that wasn’t true; Remus and Seneca didn’t, and it also wasn’t like he needed to have ‘romantic feelings’ for someone when he was only thirteen. 

He engaged in the discussion just enough to get credit from Priya, and when the class was finally over, he got out as soon as he could. The Gryffindors had transfiguration with the Hufflepuffs, so the class wasn’t particularly interesting this year. Remus didn’t show up, and Sirius surmised that he was going to miss all of his classes that day, contrary to what he had said that morning. 

He was actually on time that day, which earned a surprised look from McGonagall, 

“Good morning, Mr. Black. Pleasant surprise to see you so early,” she drawled. 

“G’morning Minnie. Thought I would treat you to extra time with me today.”

She gave him a tired look, before saying, “Please take a seat. The lesson is starting.”

Sirius flashed her one of his signature grins, and she pursed her lips in response, before walking up to the front of the classroom and starting instruction for the day. 

As usual, Sirius was prepared to fall asleep in class, but McGonagall gave an unusual announcement; “Today we have a special lesson, you do not need to take out your textbooks,” she said, looking pointedly at Lily, who had already started flipping through the pages. 

“We’re going to be learning about animagi. Can anyone tell me what an animagus is?”

A Hufflepuff girl in the front row eagerly raised her hand, 

“Yes Ms. Klueger?”

“Animagi, or Animaguses, are people that have the ability to turn into animals at will.”

“Not quite, but very close, thank you,” McGonagall said, before beginning to describe the entire concept of being an animagus. Sirius hung onto every word, it was the most interested he had been in a class, ever. He had never really liked school, and especially before hogwarts. His Mother had homeschooled him and Regulus in a small room at Grimmauld Place, and Sirius would always be jealous of the muggle children that would walk past the window, going to school. He distinctly remembered the day when his mother finally noticed his staring, and painted over the window, but not before beating him senseless.

It must’ve been about ten minutes into the lesson when it clicked for him. Werewolves don’t attack animals. Animagi are humans, but in the body of an animal. If he, James, and _maybe_ Peter became animagi, they could help Remus with his transformations. Sirius was barely able to sit still, his mind jumping to every possibility. 

At the end of the lesson, Sirius gathered up his several pages of notes, which had garnered quite a reaction not only from Minerva, but also from almost every other student, and strode up to Minerva’s desk.

“Hey, Minnie,” He said cheekily.

“Professor McGonagall to you,” She deadpanned.

“So, about today’s lesson…”

She raised her eyebrows, “Yes? What about it?”

“How does one become an animagus?”

“That magic is far beyond anything someone your age could perform, or would even be allowed to perform. All animagi have to be registered and trained within the ministry or a certified institution,” she sighed, and rubbed her temples with her hands, “I forbid you from looking into it, that knowledge is highly _restricted_.”

Sirius did not miss her emphasis on the word restricted, and not wanting his fourth detention of the week, he waved goodbye, “Thanks Minnie, see you next class!”

“Goodbye, Mr. Black,” she said, relieved that he was finally out of her classroom.

As soon as he stepped into the hallway, Sirius told James and Peter about his plan, ignoring Peter’s worried looks, and James’ skepticism.

“Are you sure we’d even be able to do this?” James asked.

“ _How_ long did you say the prison sentence was?” Peter said, looking like he was on the verge of melting into a nervous puddle. 

Sirius’ eyelid twitched, and he almost took out all of his stress on the small, annoying, pathetic boy. 

“ _That_ is not the point. The point is that we can help Remus. Our Remu.”

James turned and looked at the two of them, before saying, “Well, I think we should. Definitely should ask Remus first though. And we need to be careful.”

“Obviously,” Sirius scoffed. 

“It wasn’t so _obvious_ when you tried to stop the school’s clocks on Sunday. _How much detention did you get again_?” Peter asked, his voice unusually venomous. 

“Peter, can you bloody _shut up_. You’re pathetic,” Sirius spat. 

James glared at both of them, before ushering them to Charms, “We can talk about it with Remus in the dorm tonight. Okay?”

Sirius and Peter both mumbled a response, and James nodded, before half-dragging Sirius down the corridor. 

That evening, after Charms and the Feast, Sirius and James confronted Remus in the dorms. Frank was off talking to Alice in the common room, and Peter was already asleep. 

Sirius sat down on Remus’ bed, and leaned onto the taller boy’s shoulder. 

“So, Remmy, we may have a solution.”

“To what?” Remus asked, confused. 

“Your furry little problem, mate,” James supplied.

“How? There isn’t a solution to this. And I told you not to search for anything. I could get caught.”

“Well, actually we haven’t researched it-” 

“Yet,” James interjected.

“Oi, let me finish. We learned about it during lessons today,” Sirius continued. 

“Well, what is ‘ _it’_?” Remus asked, confused. 

“We, um, we learned about Animagi,” James said slowly. 

Remus’ eyes widened, and he immediately shot their hopes down; “No. What are you even going to do? As an animagus I mean?”

“We learned in DADA today about how werewolves don’t attack animals. And then in transfiguration we learned about how animagi are animals in everything except the mind. So, we thought that we could keep you company while you transformed. So that you won’t hurt yourself so badly” Sirius explained.

Remus stared. 

“You can’t be serious. That sounds like a horrid idea, you could go Azkaban if you get found out. And what if I, or rather, the Wolf, figures out that you’re people? And not animals? What if I hurt you?” He asked, incredulously. 

“We haven’t even tried it. And we still need to look into it to know if it’s possible,” James said. 

“No. It’s not a good idea. Goodnight,” Remus said, shoving Sirius off of himself, and disappearing under the covers. 

“Well, that went _just great_ ,” Sirius whispered to James. 

“He’ll come around. Plus I can research it when I get home. My Mum probably has something about it in her library,” James smiled. 

“Okay. Goodnight, Jamie.”

“Goodnight Siri.”

The first Hogsmeade Weekend was in mid-November, and James spent the entire week talking about it, going on and on about how “Zonko’s had the best prank supplies we’ll ever be able to get,” and how “Honeydukes is the top candy shop in all of Britain”.

Sirius had actually never been to a candy shop, or a joke shop. In fact, the only shopping centers he had ever been permitted to go without constant supervision were Brunswick Alley and Knockturn Alley. His parents kept a unwavering eye on him in Diagon Alley, and refused to let him set foot in Hogsmeade until he was in third year. Even when they went to the ancestral family home in Marrakech, his parents hadn’t let him go into the magical section of the souk unsupervised, citing ‘omnipresent light wizards’.

In fact, the only reason they had even signed his trip form was so he would agree to be trained in dark magic when he was of age. Of course, Sirius had no intention to do so; he was determined to be out of Grimmauld Place as soon as he possibly could. 

He woke up later than usual, probably because he had stayed awake until nearly three in the morning with James and Remus, talking about their plans for Christmas break. 

In fact, it was Remus that woke him up, by shaking his leg.

“Huhwhatsthat,” Sirius mumbled groggily, shifting up into a sitting position. 

“I’ve been trying to wake you for almost ten minutes. Breakfast closed an hour ago and we leave for hogsmeade in thirty minutes. Get ready,” Remus said. 

Sirius grunted a response, and immediately stripped down and changed in the room. He completely missed Remus’ flushed cheeks and uncomfortable demeanor, and he babbled the entire time, asking what had been for breakfast and what Remus planned on doing in Hogsmeade. 

After a non-mutually uncomfortable five minutes, Sirius bounded down the stairs into the common room, shortly followed by Remus. 

“Oi, mate, you finally woke up,” James shouted. 

“G’morning Jamie. Thought I would sleep in today,” Sirius grinned. 

“About time you bloody woke up,” grumbled Peter.

“Shut it, Pettigrew,” Sirius spat, with a much meaner tone than he intended. 

Peter turned a violent shade of puce, and looking to avoid conflict, Remus led the three boys down to the Gryffindor Courtyard, where the other third-year students were gathering to leave for Hogsmeade.

They met up with the other Gryffindors and the two Ravenclaws, who looked particularly exhausted. The new Ravenclaw Quidditch captain had started practice early that year, and was running them particularly ragged. 

After talking for a quick minute, McGonagall and the other heads of houses arrived, and called their respective students over to different areas of the Courtyard. 

“Good Morning everybody,” she started. 

Looking to start the day off with a high note, Sirius shouted, “Good Morning to you too, Minnie!”

She glowered at him before continuing, “Now, today is your first Hogsmeade weekend of the year, and I trust you all have turned in your forms?”

Everyone nodded, except for a tall boy named Derek, who paled. 

“Mr. Choi?” asked McGonagall.

He gulped, before quietly saying, “I forgot to turn it in. I didn’t know we had to.”

She sighed, “Well do you have it? I cannot let you go if you haven’t had your form certified by an instructor”.

‘“Oh, yes I have it!” He gave an audible sigh of relief, before handing his form to her. 

“Is anyone else not certified for the trip?”

No one did anything. 

“Good. Moving on, you will follow Hagrid down the path to the village. You will be given three hours to walk around the village and spend your money how you like it, but I would advise to not use it all at once. You must be back by 2pm sharp. Nod if you agree”.

Everyone nodded, and she gave a rare smile, then resumed her harsh demeanor. 

“Good. Detentions will be given to those that do not respect the rules, and if there is a particularly severe case of rule-breaking, your Hogsmeade permissions _will_ be revoked. Now please head over to Hagrid, and listen to him. Remember the rules _and_ the punishments.”

Sirius realized that they were the last house to be released into Hagrid’s supervision, and the other 120 or so students crowded around the massive man. Sirius had no idea how he could supervise so many kids, but he didn’t think much of it.

“Hullo, hullo, ev’rybody. Now, yer’ve got to follow m’down to Hogsmeade. Alright?”

There was a collective murmur, and he led them out of the courtyard, across the old rickety wooden bridge, and down the long, steep path to the village. There was a light dusting of snow on the valley, and it looked especially pretty with the smoke coming out of the dozens and dozens of mismatched, wonky chimneys. 

Their group of Gryffindors ran ahead to Seneca and Emmeline, who were already nearing the base of the trail. 

“What are yous planning on doing?” Marlene asked. 

“I just need something to eat. Or something to wake me up. I’m really tired,” Seneca said.

“Same here,” Emmeline sighed

“Should we go to Honeyduke’s first?” James asked the group. 

Everyone agreed, and they set off for the far end of High Street. 

Over the course of the three hours, they split into various different groups, and darted in and out of the dozens of stores in the village. About halfway through, Seneca and Emmeline, along with Lily, Mary, and Dorcas sat down in the Three Broomsticks, and the two Ravenclaws fell asleep almost immediately after. James and Marlene had negotiated with Madame Rosmerta enough so that they could use one of the dart boards in the back of the room, and every minute or so, one of them would shout when the other scored. Eventually Sirius and Remus joined in, and Seneca and Emmeline were woken up by the increasing volume inside the pub. 

Before too long, it was already time to leave, and the group went back up to the castle, laughing and talking the whole way.

The rest of the year went by even faster than the one before, and not a single person from Sirius’ friend group was staying back in the castle for Christmas.

Quidditch practice was fairly normal, not nearly as bad as it seemed to be for the other houses, and the new captain was unusually relaxed, compared to last year’s captain. 

Remus’ last moon before the holiday went by normally, albeit not without a long day in the hospital wing. Sirius and James continued to talk about the possibilities of their animagi plan, although it was now a secret from Remus. They made a resolution to both research it over the holidays, and only tell Remus about it once they were sure they could actually do it, without a doubt. 

Before he knew it, Sirius was on the Hogwarts Express, heading back to London. James and Remus were both in the car with Sirius, which made him happy enough to ignore his inevitable argument with his parents. Although, to his displeasure, Peter was there too. 

Sirius sighed, and looking to be in charge of conversation, he decided to bring up something that was sure to get attention. 

“I’m not looking forward to seeing Seneca’s mom threaten my mother again. That was embarrassing.”

James looked up, and his eyes widened, “Wait actually? She did that?”

“Yeah? Why?”

James continued, slowly, “Coming from Mrs. Locklear, that means a lot. You do know Seneca’s family is extremely powerful across the pond, right?”  
“No”

Remus stared blankly at the two of them. 

Jame sighed, and started to explain, “First off, I only know this because my Nan worked for the International Commission, and she would blab endlessly about politics once her mind started to go. Anyways, Seneca’s maternal grandmother was the Macusa president in the 1920s, and his paternal grandparents are the representatives for both of the Navajo-Reserved seats in the MACUSA parliament, at least, they were six years ago. And that’s not even mentioning how important Mrs. Locklear herself is,” he said as he looked pointedly, “Seriously? You don’t know?”

Sirius grinned, “Of course, I’m always Sirius”

James rolled his eyes, before continuing, “Shut it. Anyways, she was the MACUSA Presidential advisor for almost ten years. She’s not the ambassador for no reason.”

“So that’s why _dearest Mother_ was so scared. And this really makes me think of you as a nerd, Jamie dear,” Sirius said, to which James playfully punched him in the arm.

Peter, who had been silent almost the entire train ride, piped up, “My grandparents said to never trust Americans. They’re selfish and entitled.”

Remus interjected, “Peter, your dad is literally an American. He was born in New York.”

“Well he’s from a British family,” Peter responded, as he reddened. 

“He still grew up there.”

Peter’s complexion was on the verge of being purple, and although Sirius was really enjoying it, he didn’t want to upset James, so he suggested a game of exploding snap. 

The remainder of the journey went by peacefully, albeit quietly, and then, all of a sudden, the train was pulling into Platform 9¾. Sirius gathered his things, and said a quick goodbye to his friends, not wanting to be seen with them, as to avoid the wrath of his parents. 

Walburga and Orion were waiting on the platform, and someone Regulus was already there. 

“Late, as usual,” Walburga spat, before grabbing her older son by the shoulder and steering him through the crowd to the barrier. Sirius did not miss the wide arc she made around Irene and the rest of the Locklear family. 

The family hurried across the busy, snowy square, and stepped into the electrical yard, and checked for muggles, before entering Brunswick Alley. 

“You two stay here. Your father and I have business in Borgin and Burkes,” Walburga said, before leaving her sons at one of the curved benches in the middle of the circle. Even though Borgin and Burkes was technically in Knockturn Alley, they had a smaller second location in Brunswick Alley which catered to more wealthy customers. Sirius did not want to know what his parents were doing in there, it usually involved very dark magic, or some kind of dark artifact trade-in. Nothing he cared to be informed on. 

Sirius and Regulus sat silently next to each other, with the withered branches of the lone aspen tree in the square quaking over their heads. The golden leaves littered the bricks, and the alley was silent, with the exception of the faint sound of snow building up on the dome above their heads. 

After an awkward ten minutes next to each other, Sirius spoke, “How was your year?”

“It was fine. Like you would care anyways.”

“I do care.”

“No, you don’t. You haven’t spoken to me all year, and you’re soiling our family name by associating with people the likes of Lupin and Potter.”

“Reg, nothing is wrong with them.”

His brother turned and gave him a disgusted look, before opening a book and starting to read. Sirius ignored him, instead playing with the leaves on the bench next to him. 

Eventually, Walburga and Orion emerged from the store, with Kreacher now carrying not just the boy’s trunks, but also a massive bag from Borgin and Burkes. 

Sirius would’ve felt bad for any other house elf, but Kreacher had carried out so many of Walburga’s horrifying punishments against her sons that it was impossible to empathize with him. As soon as they came out, Sirius and Regulus got up, and took their parent’s hands, and they apparated to Grimmauld Place. 

After they set their stuff in the foyer, Walburga turned towards her older son. 

“Sirius. I need to speak with you. In the library,” she said. 

Sirius’ blood ran cold, and he followed his mother up the main staircase, and through the large double doors into the dusty old room. 

“So. I have been informed of your _escapades_ at school.”

“Whatever Regulus is telling you, it isn’t true,” Sirius said angrily. 

“Incorrect assumption, Regulus has been less than cooperative. It was actually that greasy little Snape boy. He has been quite helpful.”

Sirius almost exploded on the spot. Snivellus, the piece of shite, the fucking areshole, had been Walburga’s eyes and ears in the school. 

“Apparently, you’ve been continuing to associate with half-bloods and blood traitors. Not to mention the child of the American Ambassador,” she spat. 

“And what is wrong with that.”

Walburga smacked him across the face, and he flew into the couch, not expecting the force she had used. It had likely been exacerbated with her own magic.

“ _How dare you disrespect your Mother like that_.”

Sirius willed the tears to disappear from his eyes, they never helped, and usually made it worse for him. 

“We have taught you what is right and wrong in this home. Clearly, you never paid attention. And those aren’t even the only things I’ve heard. Torturing the members of Slytherin House? Including your own _brother and cousins_.”

She flicked her wrist, and a book from the shelf behind him fell on his back. Sirius fell down, not expecting the sudden pain. 

“How does it feel to be stabbed in the back? When you’re not expecting it? Not very good, I would assume,” she asked, her voice deadly. 

“Kreacher, come in here and finish Sirius’ punishment. Stop only when you see fit.”

The little bag of skin popped into existence in the library, and cackled, “Yes, ma’am.”

Sirius steeled himself, and felt the book rise off his back. Then it slammed back down again, the spine jabbing him in the shoulder blade. Sirius let out a cry, and Walburga gave a cruel smile before slowly clicking the door shut. 

Kreacher continued to laugh maniacally while repeatedly beating him with the book, until Sirius could barely feel anything anymore. Eventually he passed out. 

Sirius woke up in his room, and looking at the magical calendar in his room, he realized he had been asleep for nearly two days. He tried to get up, and let out a cry with his movement. He could still move, but feeling his back, there were massive tender patches lining his spine and shoulder blades. He saw blood on his sheets, and his hair was tangled with dried bits of it mixed in. He had no idea how it had gotten there. 

After making slow, gradual movements, Sirius finally got up, and gathered a change of clothes before stepping into the bathroom. He drew a cool bath, and stepped into the water, letting out a cry when his back touched the cool liquid. 

After finishing his bath, and carefully donning his loose fitting clothes, as to not aggravate his injuries, Sirius realized his wand wasn’t in his room. He tried to open the door, but furiously realized that it was locked from the outside. He shook the lock before letting out a cry of frustration, and throwing one of his textbooks at the lock. 

With a loud _crack_ , Kreacher appeared in the room. 

“Master Sirius is not permitted to have his wand. He will not receive more than one meal a day until the end of holidays,” the creature croaked, giddily. 

Sirius screamed, and tossed the book at the elf, who then laughed, and apparated back out of the room before it could impact his head. 

The next two weeks went by very slowly, with Sirius spending most of his time pacing around his room. He finished all of his homework on the third day, and exhausted his supply of Honeydukes (which Walburga had somehow missed) on the tenth day. 

At one point Regulus showed up outside his door, and tried to talk to him.

“Are you okay?”

“Go away. I don’t want to talk to a filthy _Slytherin_ ,” Sirius spat, mimicking his brother’s tone from when they were in the alley.  
Regulus’ tone became much colder, and he continued, “You’re not the only one she does this two. I hope you realize that and stop only thinking of yourself for once.”

His footsteps disappeared down the hallway, and Sirius turned back to messing around with his few possessions in his room. 

Finally, the day came when Sirius could go back to Hogwarts. 

Walburga strode into his room, and her eyebrows rose when she saw he was ready. 

“We’re leaving now, your items are in the hall. Here is your wand.”

“I don’t intend to ever return for the holidays,” he said, with a monotone. 

“You will return for the summers. We will only call you back here on the other holidays if need be. We don’t want you here anyways,” she spat.

She then gripped his arm, and Sirius stuffed his wand in his pocket. 

Regulus and Orion were already waiting in the hall with Kreacher, who was sneering at Sirius as he came down the stairs. 

“We are leaving now,” Orion stated, flatly. 

“Of course,” Walburga responded, equally unemotionally. 

The four humans and the elf went through their normal routine of apparating to Brunswick Alley, and then walking over to the station. This time, however, Walburga, Kreacher, and Orion left as soon as they arrived. Regulus walked off to talk to some of the other Slytherins, and Sirius searched in vain for Snivellus. 

Eventually he sighted James and Remus standing next to each other, and Peter not too far off, so he walked over to his friends, dragging his trunks behind him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So usually I hate huge time skips, and I’m really sorry that I’ve been doing them a lot throughout this fic. However, I’m going to keep having to do it (albeit probably less and less as the story goes on), because writing a story without time skips that takes place from 1971-1998 is not something I would enjoy doing.  
> Anyways, sorry for not updating for so long, I was totally overwhelmed with school work last week, but I should be able to write a ton over winter break, and I’m aiming to finish third year before Christmas. That may be a bit of an unrealistic goal though.  
> Thanks for reading!


	7. Third Year, Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Third year, January-June, from James’ point of view.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can’t wait to finish third year, I have so much in store for 4th year and beyond (I’ve been writing future scenes that I get ideas for in a separate doc).  
> If I stick to my current schedule, MAYBE I’ll finish all the way through fifth year by the end of break, but that’s a big if.   
> Anyways, after this year, I’ll probably go back to Seneca’s POV, except for Sirius and Regulus a couple more times.

**TW: Abuse, wounds, blood, (slight) alcohol consumption.**

James had gone to Kings Cross with Peter that year, as Cathryn and Mr. Pettigrew had important business to attend to, and couldn’t miss work that morning. They met up with Hope and Remus at the station, and before too long, Sirius arrived with his parents. 

He looked absolutely horrible, there were dark bags under his eyes, and he looked much paler than usual, alarmingly so. 

“Sirius,” James called. 

The boy walked over, with a noticeable wince as he moved. He was considerably slower than before, and James fumed, wondering what Walburga and Orion had done to him. After a short greeting, they stood in silence, waiting for their parents to finish talking, so that they could say goodbye. Euphemia and Fleamont were so wrapped up in conversation with Hope that they didn’t notice the state Sirius was in. 

Eventually, the four found themselves in their usual compartment, and James started questioning Sirius. 

“What did they do.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yes you do. I can see you’re hurt.”

“We’re not stupid, Siri, don’t lie,” Remus added.

“My parents have said multiple times that you’re always free to stay with us when you need to,” James said. 

“ _ I’m fine _ ,” Sirius said, his face growing red. 

“Sirius, we’re your bloody friends, and we have to take care of you,” James said. 

“At least let me heal whatever injuries you have, Madame Pomfrey taught me some quick healing spells,” Remus supplied. 

“Fine. Only Remus can look though. Turn around,” Sirius said, with a flat tone. 

James turned away, annoyed that he couldn’t help his friend, and Peter was already asleep, so it didn’t really matter for him. 

He heard Remus gasp, and in a bit of fury, spun around, and said “I don’t care if you don’t want me to-”

He stopped, staring at Sirius’ back. Black and yellow bruises extended from his lower spine, splotched all over his back and shoulder blades. There were several scabs in the middle of the worst of it, and Remus was busy trying to close the wounds that hadn’t completely healed. 

“I said not to bloody turn around,” Sirius said, with tears welling in his eyes. 

“I-,” James started, “Why did they do this.”

“You don’t need to know.”

“Yes, I do.”

Sirius clenched his teeth, and then turned to face James, wincing at the effort. 

“Snape was informing on me,” Sirius said quickly, “Apparently he was being her little lapdog at school. She, I mean Walburga, says I’m a bloody cock-up,” he spat. 

“That fucking arsehole. I’ll deal with him.”

“James, don’t, he’s not worth it,” Remus said.

James glared at him. 

Remus sighed, and James got up and left the compartment. 

The corridor was mostly empty, and James wandered down towards the front of the train. 

Then he saw a familiar mop of greasy hair. 

“Snivellus,” he spat.

“Potter,” the boy sneered. 

“So you thought it was cute to inform on Sirius. You’re a fuckin’ nutter if you think you’ll get away with that.”

Severus paled, “You don’t know what you’re talking about, Potter.”

“Actually I do.  _ Locomotor Wibbly, _ ” James spat, and the other boy collapsed to the floor of the corridor. 

“How does it feel now? To not be in control of a situation?”

He then performed a quick knee reversal hex, right as the boy started to get up, so that he immediately fell back down again. 

“ _ James? What are you doing _ ?”

He turned around, and to his horror, Lily was standing in the hall, with the door of her compartment open. 

“Evans, he-”

“I don’t give a flying fuck. Get away from him,” she said, her green eyes unnaturally sharp.

“You don’t understand,” he started.

“ _ I said, get away _ .”

James groaned, and gritted his teeth, before storming down the hall, back to his compartment. 

Remus looked up from his book, and Sirius got up from leaning against the taller boy’s shoulder, evidently healed.

“What did you do?”

“Jelly-legs jinx and then a knee reversal hex. Nothing that bad,” he muttered. 

“McGonagall ‘ll have your arse for that,” Remus sighed. 

“Not if I tell her what Severus did.”

“ _ Don’t _ ,” Sirius said sharply. 

Taken aback, James questioned, “Why not?”

Sirius shrunk back against the seat, “Just don’t.”

Remus turned to face him, softly saying “It’s okay to tell people about it.”

“Sirius, they’re abusing you. And  _ Snivellus _ enabled it,” James said.

Sirius shook a bit, “ _ No. _ ”

“If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s okay, but remember that what they’re doing is wrong. We’ll always be here for you,” Remus said, as Sirius leaned against his shoulder. 

James sunk into the cushions of his seat, and fell asleep, still thinking about what he wanted to do to Walburga and Orion as he slipped out of consciousness. 

The train arrived at Hogsmeade just as the sun was setting, and snow covered the ground all around the station. The boys changed into their robes and met up with their usual group, before loading into one of the carriages. 

Sirius stayed silent the entire ride, and James, not looking for a confrontation, chose to talk with Marlene instead. He really liked her, she was funny and outgoing, just like him, and he regretted not spending more time with her. He didn’t  _ like _ her in that way though, that was reserved for Evans. Plus, he was pretty sure she had a mutual crush on Dorcas. 

A blizzard had started as the carriages made their way up the steep road to the castle, and as they crossed the bridge to the great hall, their hair was whipped about by the severe wind, and their vision was obscured by the constant snowfall. 

For once, James felt quite lucky that his hair was the way it was; no wind gust could muss it, and he thought he looked rather ravishing with snowflakes nestled in his black hair. 

“Hey, Evans,” he said, gravitating towards her. 

She scowled at him, and rolled her eyes, before moving beside Dorcas.

“I didn’t do that without merit, y’know?” he said, apprehensively. 

“James, he’s my friend. You hexed him.”

“Well, he deserved it,” James said adamantly.

“And why would that be?” she asked, her red hair whipping about. 

James opened and closed his mouth, after seeing a pointed look from Sirius and Remus. 

“I - I can’t say.”   
She gave an exasperated laugh, “Well, that explains it.”

“You don’t understand,” he started, but was cut off. 

“Yes I do. You’re letting your petty house biases cloud your judgement. I mean, come on, we’re teenagers now. Get over it.”

“That’s not what it is.”

“Then tell me.”

“I can’t.”

She scoffed, and moved further away, engaging in quiet conversation with Emmeline and Seneca, the latter of which gave him a pitying look. 

James wouldn’t be surprised if the boy had already figured out what was going on, he seemed to have unnatural insight into almost everything. 

Aggravated, James moved back over to Marlene, and started talking with her about Quidditch,

“So, y’reckon we’ll win again this year?”

She punched his arm playfully, “Bloody nutter, of course we will.”

James rolled his eyes, “Ravenclaw’s looking to be a bit dodgy. ‘Should watch out for ‘em.”

He looked ahead to Emmeline, “Oi, Vance, how many Quidditch Practices ‘ave you had so far?”

She looked back at him quizzically, “Three times a week, so 21 I think? Why?”

“No reason,” he smiled, while Marlene gaped.

“How long are your practices though?” he asked. 

“Depends on the day, usually two or three hours though,” she responded slowly, still confused. 

“Thanks!” James said, smiling, while Marlene’s mouth continued to hang open in shock. 

Emmeline looked back at him oddly one more time, before resuming her conversation with Lily and Seneca. 

“ _ They practiced that much _ ?” Marlene asked, still in a state of surprise. 

“Apparently,” James responded. 

She rubbed her forehead with her gloved hand, “Well…. I guess we’ll have to prepare.”

“Definitely,” James said, laughing

The wind sped up, and the students picked up their pace, running towards the massive entryway, as snow twisted through the air. 

The feast was just as delicious as usual, but it was quite awkward, with little conversation. 

Just like the walk there, James mostly spoke with Marlene, and also Dorcas, while everyone else congregated in their small groups. Lily continued to glare at James, and he didn’t miss the feeling on the back of his neck from the Slytherin table. 

He turned around, and seeing Severus staring at him, he rolled his eyes and returned to talking about Quidditch, albeit feeling mildly perturbed. 

Sirius and Remus spoke quietly the whole time, Sirius staring at Regulus on the other side of the hall. The younger Black brother stared at his food the whole time, refusing to meet Sirius’ eyes. 

Even after they were inevitably dismissed to the dorms from the hall, Sirius still wouldn’t talk to James, instead choosing to immediately fall asleep. 

“Sirius, I-,” James started. 

“No,” the boy said, burying his face in his pillow. 

Remus gave James a sympathetic look, and then, he too went to sleep. 

The next day, James decided to take matters into his own hands. 

When he woke up, seeing that everyone else in the dorm was still asleep, James crept out of the common room as soon as he was allowed, and made his way to McGonagall’s office. 

“Potter?” she asked, staring incredulously at his presence, “What is it you need?”

“I.. I need to talk about Sirius. It’s important,” he said, choosing his words carefully.

He glanced up and down the hall, paranoid that someone would see him and tell everyone. 

Not that they would anyways, what would they even say, he thought, trying to calm himself, and then wondered who this hypothetical ‘they’ was. 

Minerva gestured to her desk, and waved him over, 

“Biscuit?” she asked.

“Oh, no thank you, I’m about to have breakfast,” he said, twisting in his seat uncomfortably. Normally when he was in this room, it was for punishments and detentions, not for a voluntary meeting. 

“So, what is it you needed to tell me?” she asked, gazing calculatedly at him. 

James responded slowly, “Please don’t tell anyone. Seriously.”

“Of course,” she said, eyeing him oddly. 

“His situation at home.. It’s total rubbish.”

“What do you mean?”

“His parents.. they hurt him. And his brother. Really bad.”

Minerva sucked in a deep breath, “How do you know?”

“I’ve seen it,” James said, looking down at his feet. 

She sighed, and took off her spectacles. After wiping them, she responded, her voice sounding incredibly tired, “Legally, there is nothing I can do. Magical law is very relaxed regarding treatment of children, and although muggle law is different, contacting muggle authorities is an absolute last resort with the Black family. It will  _ not _ go well.”

James looked up, feeling lost, “Is there anything you  _ can do _ ?”

“I’ll go easier on him, during my lessons, of course. I can talk to Albus, but the most I can do is strongly advise for him to avoid going home as much as possible. Don’t return when it is optional, of course, and try to be away as much as possible in the Summer.”

James sighed, “Well, thank you.”

Before he could leave, she had one more thing to say, “Potter?”

“Yes ma’am?”

“Thank you for telling me.”

“No problem,” he said, stepping out of her office and walking down to the Great Hall. 

After arriving at their table and summoning breakfast to his plate, James started to talk to Marlene again, as she was proving to be quite the amicable person, but he was interrupted by Remus. 

“Where were you?” he asked. 

“Nowhere important,” James responded. 

“If you say so.”

Sirius looked at him suspiciously, but didn’t say anything. 

James rolled his eyes and turned back to Marlene, reengaging in their discussion about Quidditch. 

Secretly, he was hurt that Sirius was still mad at him, it wasn’t like he had really done anything, and if the boy was that mad, then he should’ve said something. Of course, Sirius was never one to be direct when he was upset, he would let you figure it out yourself, or else he would simply sit there and make you feel guilty. 

James tried to hold off confronting him himself, and repeatedly tried to bait Sirius into saying something, much to Remus’ annoyance, but he never said anything. 

Really, he didn’t even speak to James at all, only talking when it was absolutely necessary, or when he informed James that he had been shifted onto the team as a beater, as one of the 6th year beaters had moved to France and would be attending Beauxbatons instead. 

Under any other circumstances, James would’ve been ecstatic, but he simply offered his congratulations and moved on. He could see Sirius’ face contort into a scowl; he was clearly trying to get James to apologize, but James was not going to do so. 

It pained him to see his friendships twisting into this shadow of what they were before winter break, and in early February, he couldn’t take it anymore. 

It was a Friday evening, just before lights-out, and James’ will finally broke. Remus and Peter were down in the common room, so it was just the two of them in the dorm room together. 

He turned and faced Sirius, who was climbing into bed, and stated “We need to get past this. Whatever petty grudges you’re holding, or whatever you’re upset about, needs to be out in the open.”

Sirius’ head whipped around, surprised that James was finally addressing him, “Don’t phrase it like that. It’s not like I’m being a whiny tosser.”

“Then what are you being?”

Sirius scowled, and said quietly, “I know you talked to McGonagall. About my  _ home situation _ .”

James was slightly taken aback, but he wasn’t that surprised that Sirius had eventually figured it out, “Alright. And what about it?’

“My parents received a child abuse complaint from the Ministry. If they receive another one, Muggle services will be contacted. They’re furious.”

James was even more surprised. He had thought Minerva wasn’t going to say anything. 

Sirius continued, “They’re threatening to send me to Durmstrang if I keep acting up. They think it was me that reported the...  _ abuse _ ,” he said, breath hitching on the last word. 

James paled significantly, he couldn’t imagine Sirius going to that school. He belonged at Hogwarts. 

“I’m sorry. I was just looking out for you.”

“Well, I told you not to, didn’t I? I had everything under control and you went and blew it into shambles.”

“I won’t do it again. Just.. I can’t idly stand by and watch that happen to you.”

Sirius gave a mirthless laugh, “They won’t get much of a chance to hurt me anymore anyways. ‘Said they didn’t want me home for the holidays anymore.”

James thought for a second, before adding, “And you can come stay with me in the summer. I don’t want you to go back there.”

Sirius smiled, “Thanks, Jamie.”

“No problem. Is this all behind us?”

“Suppose so.”

James grinned, and right at that moment, Remus and Peter walked in.

Remus stopped short, and asked, “Did I miss anything?”

“Not bloody likely,” Peter muttered, annoyed at being ignored for the past couple weeks.

Sirius shot the short boy a deadly glare, and then quickly said, “Everything’s alright now.”

“Okay….” Remus said slowly, and then got ready to go to sleep. 

James pulled back his covers, and as he lay in bed, his grin remained plastered on his face. He was happy to have his friends back, although he didn’t feel  _ that  _ sorry for what he had done. No matter, ‘everything’s fine now’, he thought, as he slowly fell asleep, staring at the patterns in the canopy above his head. 

James had actually learned quite a lot, regarding animagi, over the break. However, because of the incident with Sirius, he had been unable to talk to his friends about it, as of yet. 

A couple of days after everything was back to normal, James dragged Remus, Sirius, and Peter down to an abandoned classroom immediately after Charms ended. 

“Oi, we’re going to miss lunch,” Sirius complained, but quieted once James shut the door.

“So.. I did some research over the winter hols-,” James started.

“No,” Remus interrupted, “I told you not to look into it.”

“How did you.. Anyways, it may be a good idea. There’s nothing actually about werewolves and animagi, for obvious reasons, but it said multiple times that other animals will react to you in your animagus form as if you were an animal yourself.”

“That sounds pretty solid to me,” Sirius added, looking up hopefully at Remus.

“No,” the taller boy said, “It’s not safe, that’s literally only one reason. And how would you even do it?”

Excited to explain, James brushed his hair away from his glasses, and continued, “All of the ingredients can be found here, like mandrake leaves. Although, there are a few things we’ll need to nick from the potions cupboard.”

“What if we get caught?” Peter asked, worriedly. 

“We won’t,” Sirius said sharply. 

Remus sighed, and said, “You’re not doing it. Seriously, what if you get caught? We’d be lucky if we aren’t expelled.”

“Well, think about it,” James said, “I’m famished anyways. Let’s get food,”

“You’re always hungry,” Remus said.

James just grinned, and took Sirius by the arm, running down to the Great Hall. 

“They’re going to get in serious trouble one day,” Peter said, quietly. 

Remus just smiled tiredly.

The next day was Valentine’s Day, and as usual, James asked Lily out. 

“G’morning Evans,” he said, smiling. 

Knowing what holiday it was, and what he was likely to do, she heaved an annoyed sigh, and said, “Good morning, James.”

“Guess what day it is,” he said, still smiling. 

Marlene and Sirius were struggling not to laugh, already knowing what would happen. 

“James, I know what day it is,” Lily said, turning back to her food. 

“So, as it’s Valentine’s Day, would you go to Hogsmeade with me?”

“James, I say it every year, no.”

Still smiling, James said, “There’s always next year.”

“Mhm,” she murmured, turning to face Emmeline. 

As soon as she was wrapped up in conversation, Sirius got James’ attention, 

“Mate, why d’you keep trying? She says no every year.”

“I think she’ll pull through eventually.”

“If you say so,” Remus said, “Let’s eat fast, we’re going to have detention.”

“How do you guys have detention  _ again _ , and how do you already know?,” Marlene asked.

“Look at Snape,” Sirius said. 

Marlene turned around, and let out a laugh at the sight of the boy, who had just entered the Great Hall. 

His hair was bright pink, and extended down past his waist. It appeared to be growing at an alarming rate, and he tripped over it as he stormed to the staff table. 

“Oi, mates, let’s get going,” Sirius said, getting up from their table and rushing out of the hall. James, Remus, and Peter followed him, and the last thing he saw was Marlene and Mary laughing, McGonagall getting up from the staff table, and Lily glaring at them. 

“Let’s go, come on,” James shouted, and the four boys ran through the halls, completely happy for the first time that year. 

February and March went by without many major interruptions, Quidditch practice was just as much, if not more grueling than usual, and lessons weren’t any less or more difficult than they had been before. 

Sirius was proving to be a great beater, already surpassing the talent of the seventh year he had replaced. He and Marlene made a great team, and the new captain was quite glad to not have to put in a ton of training hours. 

They won their first game, which was against Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw beat Slytherin, pitting the two houses against each other yet again. Still humiliated by their defeat the previous year, the Ravenclaws were determined to win, and there was an unusually high level of inter-house arguments and tension. Seneca and Emmeline were mostly pretty relaxed about it, but James did not miss how tense they were, and how they would frequently show up to Gryffindor practice, to observe the team’s playing strategy. 

The difficulty of classes was intensifying, although not nearly as much as it was for the 5th and 7th years. The older members of the Quidditch team looked ready to collapse under the combined stress of the tournament  _ and  _ the exams, and James was not one to look forward to experiencing that situation.

Remus’ February transformation was mostly quite normal, but his March transformation, which fell on the last week before the Easter Hols, did not go as well. 

Usually, he would show up for lunch, or at least supper, but he wasn’t even in the common room after the Hall closed. 

“Bloody hell,” Sirius muttered, “How are we supposed to get to him?”

It took James a second, but then, for the first time since he had arrived at Hogwarts, he remembered something he had stowed in the bottom of his trunk. 

“I have an idea,” he said, smiling devilishly. 

As he pulled out his invisibility cloak, and draped it over his shoulders, James was distracted by Sirius and Peter’s agape expressions. 

“Is.. is that an invisibility cloak?” Peter asked, slowly.

Realization dawned on James, “Bollocks, I forgot to tell you. I got it for New Year’s, from my Dad.”

“Wicked,” Peter said, staring at it. 

“Honestly, I can’t believe that I forgot we had it. The things we could’ve done,” he said, smiling wistfully.   
“Anyways, come get under the cloak. We should all be able to fit.”

Sirius and Peter both crowded under with James, and the three quietly exited their room. 

Really, they were quite lucky that there were three Gryffindor boy’s dorm rooms for their year, so it was only the four of them in the particular room. It was the main reason they had been able to sneak out and accomplish so many pranks over the school year. 

As they snuck past the fat lady, who stared at them suspiciously, Sirius tripped on the door frame. 

“Fucking shite, fuck this,” he muttered. 

Then James spotted Ms. Norris. 

“Bloody hell, Filch is nearby,” he whispered. The three regrouped, and hid behind a tapestry, watching. 

Barely a second later, Filch rounded the corner, grinning evilly at the thought of giving students detention. His face fell when he didn’t spot anyone, although James could’ve sworn that Ms. Norris’ lamp-like eyes could see them. 

After they waited a bit, they made their way down the stairs, and then down to the Hospital Wing. Madame Pomfrey was nowhere to be seen, and when Sirius eventually spotted the familiar disillusionment charms surrounding Remus’ cot, the three shedded the coat, and quietly walked over to Remus. 

Sirius pulled back the curtain, and Peter sucked in a deep breath. 

“Bloody hell,” James exclaimed. 

Remus looked to be in one of the worst states they had ever seen him, and the boy smiled weakly up at them. 

“‘Could hear yous the whole time, try to be quieter next time. And how did you even get down here.”

With a smile, James wrapped his body in the cloak, leaving only his head exposed. 

“Pretty cool, innit?” he asked, while Remus stared at him, dumbfounded. 

“How, I mean when, actually yes, how, did you get that? And how is the quality so perfect?” Remus asked, still shocked.

“My dad gave it to me over break, kinda forgot about it until now. Apparently it’s been a family heirloom for centuries, but I ‘dunno how the quality is so good.”

“Wow..” Remus said. 

Sirius interjected, “That’s not the point. Are you okay?”

“M’fine,” Remus said, softly. 

“No you’re not,” Peter said, “Don’t lie to us.”

Shocked at the boy’s unusual assertiveness, Remus responded, “Well, I guess not, the transformation was pretty rubbish.”

“We can tell,” Sirius said, sadly. 

Remus looked down at his hands, which he was fiddling with. 

“Actually, this has made me realize something,” he said, quietly, “The animagus thing may be a good idea. If it’s really as foolproof as you say it is, and it can help me stop tearing myself apart every month, then I’m in.”

_ “Really _ ?” James asked, happily. 

“ _ Keep it down _ ,” Remus said, “And I’m not entirely sure yet. We can talk when I’m all better. And you guys should head back before you get caught.”

James frowned, “We can stay here-”

“No, don’t. Madame Pomfrey is coming to check on me in a bit,” Remus said, sharply. 

“Alright… bye then,” James said.

“Bye Remu,” Sirius said, taking the boy in for a quick embrace. 

“Bye Remus,” Peter said, and then the three boys ducked under the cover of the cloak. 

They made their way back up to the dorms, in near-perfect silence. 

James wanted to say something about their new plan, but Sirius fell asleep immediately, as did Peter, so he chose not to. 

Eventually, he too slipped into a deep sleep. 

When the Spring Hols came around, James ended up having to go home, as his parents wanted to meet with his Mum’s family in India. Although the Potter’s had been in Britain for centuries, James’ Mum’s family had moved there more recently, so they still maintained semi-strong connections to their roots. Their religious practices functioned in much the same way, as James’ Dad could barely be considered a practicing Hindu, but because of his Mum they still celebrated Diwali and Holi, and sometimes Navratri and Dussehra.

It was just their luck that they would miss Holi in India by four days, and James was quite upset; he hated that for the first time he would be going there for Spring Break in years, he would miss the celebrations. His parents tried to make it up, but he was at Hogwarts over Holi, so there wasn’t much they could do. They did owl him some leftover sweets, and his dad even tried to bag some of the Gulal from a party they had gone to in Manchester, but it just wasn’t the same. 

Because of how difficult it was to apparate over long distances, and especially so with luggage, his parents had set up a floo connection from their residence in Highgate to their rental house in the magical quarter of Varanasi, so James still had to take the Hogwarts Express home. 

The train ride home was fairly boring, most people were staying back at school. James sat with Dorcas, Emmeline, and Peter, and he could’ve sworn he hadn’t been in a quieter environment in months. 

Finally, after an uncomfortably awkward several hours on the train, they finally arrived at Kings Cross. James bounded out of the compartment, after saying a quick goodbye, and met his Mom on the platform. 

Euphemia had gotten her hair cut short, and the new bob cut suited her quite well. 

“Hi Mum, I like the hair, it’s really pretty,” she smiled, “where’s dad?”

“Beta, it’s so good to see you. Oh, and Monty is at home, sorting out the luggage. Let’s go, the floo connection to Varanasi expires at 6pm, we can’t miss it.”

James waved goodbye to Peter, who was still standing on the platform with Cathryn, who was busy trying to figure out how her son had left half of his clothes at school.

When they arrived at home, Fleamont was in the living room, amassing several massive trunks next to the fireplace, sweat glistening on his forehead. 

Seeing Euphemia, he turned and embraced her, “Mera suraj, beautiful as always,”

Then he faced James, and tried to pick the boy up, but quickly realized it was not a good idea; James had long surpassed him in height, “Beta, getting taller by the day,” he said with a smile. 

James grinned, “Hi Dad.”

Euphemia clapped her hands, “Jamie, dear, go and fetch what you need from your room, we’ll be leaving in a bit.”

After a rushed hour of unloading his school supplies, at least those of which he had brought home, and then stuffing dozens of different clothing items into his trunk, James was finally ready to leave. 

“ _ Mum? I’m ready to go now, _ ” he shouted down the stairs.

“ _ Okay, dear. Bring your stuff down. And don’t shout, _ ” she yelled back.    
‘Hypocritical much,’ James thought, as he rolled his eyes and lugged his trunk down the main staircase, using the limited levitating charms he had mastered to help.

James sat and waited in the living room for his parents to be ready. Eventually, Euphemia and Fleamont emerged, levitating multiple food dishes and containers ahead of them.

“Mum, what’s with all the food?” James asked, confused. 

“I’m not letting Auntie Gertrude try and show me up again. Plus, great-aunt Kamila already thinks low enough of us as it is, and I’m not letting her opinion drop any lower,” she said, and then muttered, “not that her opinion could be any lower.”

James rolled his eyes. His Mum and her older sister, Gertrude, had had a rivalry for as long as he could remember. Before his Nan passed, she mentioned several times how Getrude always thought that she was better because of her age, even though Euphemia had vastly surpassed her in Education and Career. 

And Great-Aunt Kamila was a whole other problem entirely. She was nearly 142, and she wasn’t allowed out of the magical quarter, for fears that the local muggles would think she was on the verge of death, considering her ancient appearance. She had an incredibly spiteful soul, and would constantly pit her sister’s children against each other, mostly because she had none of her own. Kamila was 20 years James’ late Nan’s senior, and had never lived in England, unlike her younger sister, and she constantly beat down on her and her children for ‘leaving the homeland’, and ‘not being properly religious’.

Frankly, James thought the whole thing was kind of hypocritical. Few wizards fully practiced any religions, and although it was not uncommon to encounter those that did, Great-Aunt Kamila was not an exception. Rumor had it that she didn’t even celebrate any holidays unless her English relatives came into town, in which case she would do it up like no one else in the entire city. 

The only real benefit of going to Varanasi was being able to see their cousins, and have the amazing food, which was unlike anything you could get elsewhere. 

Fleamont and Euphemia also loved to go shopping in the various markets throughout the magical and muggle quarters of the city, purchasing potion ingredients they couldn’t get anywhere else. There were also plenty of food items that were worth it to get there, although James’ parents would have to perform several cleansing and purging charms on them, as air and water pollution had been worsening lately. 

James liked to think of himself as unbiased against muggles, but it made his blood boil when he heard stories of what was happening to the environment. In all honesty, though, it wasn’t really their fault; they were just doing what they had to do to survive, his blame was better placed on the muggle government and society. 

Finally, after what felt like an hour, the three Potters had finished situating all of their luggage in the massive fireplace, Fleamont went to fetch the floo powder, and Euphemia had her wand out, ready to clean them of ashes, and fix her outfit, as soon as they arrived in Varanasi. 

Mr. Potter returned, and with a grin, he shouted, “Varanasi 412”, and the three were whipped through the floo network. Various scenes flew past his vision, and James unintentionally held onto his glasses, for fear that they would fly away. 

After an unusually long trip, almost two minutes, they finally appeared in a medium-sized fireplace in their usual rental house.

Having forgotten that the fireplace was slightly smaller than the one at home, several trunks and dishes went flying into the room, having been squeezed out from their original location. 

“ _ Arresto Momentum _ ,” Euphemia shouted, and everything stopped moving. She levitated the dishes into the kitchen, and Fleamont took care of the trunks, while James walked over to the balcony to look out onto Magical Varanasi. 

It was one of the largest magical communities in India, with close to two hundred thousand people living in it, and second only in magical population to Kolkata, and possibly Mumbai as well. 

The city was separate from the muggle city of the same name, split by a gleaming white stone bridge across the river, which was only visible to magical people. 

Magical Varanasi was located on a massive hill, which would appear to muggles as an extensive tidal mudflat. The city was a jumbled amalgamation of gleaming white and gold domes and turrets, with numerous green and orange accents, and flowering vines growing over the vast majority of it. Lychee and willow trees rose out of the steep cobbled alleys, and colorful cloth awnings lined the numerous stores on the larger streets, where vendors sold almost anything you could imagine. 

At the top of the hill, a massive, elongated marble dome housed the government of Magical India, as New Delhi was almost completely uninhabited by Magical citizens. The magical quarter of New Delhi had been slowly abandoned, as cooperation between muggle and magical governments became less and less likely, and fears of exposure grew. 

One of the most unique things about Magical Varanasi was its size. It accounted for a space almost twice as large as what it actually occupied in the muggle world, thanks to an extensive network of ancient expanding charms. 

Music and conversation drifted up through the open windows of the house, and James could smell at least ten different foods. 

He turned back and explored the house, as they hadn’t stayed there for several years, and he had forgotten where everything was. They were lucky to be able to get the same rental every time, James thought, as he deposited his shoes by the front entrance. 

The polished granite tile felt exceptionally cold against his feet, and he was glad that he had worn his thick socks that day. He noticed that several charms kept the house cool and not overly humid, so James could really only experience the true weather if he stepped onto the balcony. 

The house was quite unique, although not unlike most other houses in the city, in that half of it was nestled into the earth, thanks to Varanasi’s unusually steep streets. The walls were made of a smooth stucco material, and although the house was really only one level, there were steps in between almost every room. The entire house was floored in the same polished granite, and James assumed that that was where the cooling and anti-humidity charms emanated from, considering how cold the stone was.

Most of the house was furnished with dark wood decor, which was covered in lots of orange and gold accents, in addition to deep orange cushions on the sofas and chairs. There were numerous plants in every room, and yellow curtains draped over the large arched windows gave a relaxed ambiance to the house. 

James’ room was in the back of the home, and one of the walls had exposed stone, with a small underground waterfall that ran over it, which created a nice white-noise sound to fall asleep too. 

Almost as soon as he fully unpacked, Euphemia appeared in his room, dressed in a patterned dark purple blouse over faded blue jeans. She had some of her fanciest bronze jewelry on, and her hair was done up with several flowers and bands wrapped into it. 

Before she could say anything, James had already guessed what was happening, 

“Going to Great-Aunt Kamila’s, are we?” he said. 

She reddened and nodded, and then gestured for him to follow her, “Come, we’re going to her estate, and I need your help with the food.”

“We’re not taking the floo?”

“No, I don’t want to have to redo my hair again, plus it’s too much of a hassle to set it up.”

James sighed, and slowly rolled off of the bed. 

“Beta, come on, we can’t be late.”

“Yes, Mum.”

James stepped down into the kitchen with her, and helped properly position some of the dishes on the massive platter she had prepared, as she levitated them on. 

As soon as Fleamont walked in, Euphemia put a shrinking charm on the food platter, and levitated it over their heads. Fleamont heaved open the large wooden doors, and the family slowly made the trek up to the top of the hill, as Great-Aunt Kamila’s estate was located adjacent to the government park at the apex of the city. To be honest,  _ estate _ was a bit too generous of a word. It was really just an unusually large, glorified house, but of course, Great-Aunt Kamila did everything she could to make it seem better. It was already darkening outside, and the magenta spherical lights that lined the streets were slowly flickering on, illuminating the city in a beautiful purple-gold glow, as the sunset melted over the horizon. 

Euphemia knocked on the large doors, and Gertrude appeared at the entryway, smirking, 

“Late as usual, dear sister.”

“Drop the act, Gerty. Just be nice for once, I’m really not in the mood to deal with you tonight,” Euphemia said, rolling her eyes. 

James struggled not to laugh, and covered it up with a cough, as Fleamont glared at him. 

Gertrude lazily waved the three into the house, and she breezed through the hall, towards the kitchen. 

She was visibly surprised when Euphemia appeared next to her, and even more surprised when she re-expanded the massive platter of food. 

Gertrude’s mouth hung open, and she stared at the medley her sister had produced, “I… how did you.. when? Huh?”

“Thanks,” Euphemia said in a sickly sweet tone, “And don’t talk like that, you sound like a bloody nutter.”

Gertrude fumed at her, and stormed out of the room, right as Kamila entered. 

“I see you’re already at it again,” the ancient hag said, in her usual gravelly voice. 

The little hair she still had left was dyed a violent shade of brown, evidently a result of her trying to appear younger, but all she achieved was looking like a squirrel had recently shat on her head. She wore a tight grey dress, which was bound to her tiny frame with a stylish leather belt, and she must’ve had at least twenty pounds of jewelry adorning her chest and ears. James was surprised that she was still standing. 

“Hello, Auntie,” Euphemia said with a monotone. 

“Hello Auntie Kamila,” James said, at the same time as Fleamont said “Hello, Kamila.”

The woman let out of a grunt of greeting, and looked the three of them up and down, before turning towards the food Euphemia had prepared. 

“You.. made all of this?” She asked, gesturing to the platter while raising her eyebrows.

“Yes?” Euphemia said, wondering what she meant.

“It looks.. nice” Kamila said, before hobbling out of the room. 

Euphemia looked like she was about to burst into tears of joy on the spot, praise of that caliber was equivalent to saying “I’m incredibly proud of you”, at least from Kamila. 

Eventually, James was shooed out of the kitchen, and he went to find his cousins, who were all significantly older than him. 

Albert was 23, and had already married, so he was staying in a separate house, and had instead elected to remain in the kitchen with the other adults. 

Amelia was 19, and was incredibly uptight and annoying to be around, but she was James’ only other cousin, so he walked over to her.

In the end, he ended up somehow convincing her and Albert, and Albert’s wife, to play a game of exploding snap, which was actually quite fun. Dinner was amazing, and James didn’t miss how his mother took pleasure in Gertrude’s overwhelming expression of anger. James was worried his aunt was on the verge of bursting a blood vessel in her forehead, which was dangerously visible, but no one else seemed to care, so he paid it no mind. Kamila was less than tolerable that evening, but she passed out from one-too-many glasses of wine around nine o’clock, so the Potters were released far earlier than they had originally thought they would be.

The two week holiday went by way faster than it originally felt like it would, with the family spending almost every night at Kamila’s house, and the day exploring both Magical and Muggle Varanasi, as many developments had been made in the recent years they had been gone for.

The most striking of which, at least to James, was the degree of the pollution in Muggle Varanasi. As soon as they passed through the shielding charms that protected Magical Varanasi, and appeared in the other city, the air tasted sour and made him cough, and there was a greyish-brown haze in the air. The river didn’t appear as the turquoise blue he could see from his Aunt’s estate; it was instead a dark brown, with thousands of little bits floating in it. 

They didn’t spend much time in Muggle Varanasi; Euphemia discreetly conjured scarves for them to hold over the mouths while they quickly made their way through one of the closer markets, and once they had gotten everything they needed, they immediately left. 

One day, Euphemia took him up to the Indian Ministry of Magic headquarters, as she had to check in their travel permits and reschedule a floo connection back to Highgate. 

James had only ever been in the British Ministry of Magic before, and although it would be a cool experience, he would rather be playing a game at the house, or sleeping. 

Eurphemia, however, wouldn’t hear any of that, and dragged him up the several dozen flights of steps through the alleys, ducking under willow fronds and lychee branches laden with red fruits. 

Eventually, they arrived at the top of the city, which was a large circular park, with the Ministry building located in the center. Kamila’s ‘estate’ was on the opposite side of the park, and James could faintly see the large wooden doors through the trees and bushes. 

The actual ministry building was almost entirely dominated by a massive marble dome, with wide columns supporting it. Although the columns couldn’t have been taller than five meters, the dome must’ve been at least 100 meters high, if not more. 

The supporting pillars were made of the same marble as the dome, except they were inlaid with bronze metal, and each column had a shining gold bust of an animal sticking out of the top. 

The dome was open air, and used the same cooling charms as the home they were staying in, so as soon as they stepped past the threshold, the temperature and humidity content dropped considerably. 

There was a large network of hallways leading to the center of the dome, and when they finally arrived, James was amazed by what he saw. 

They had arrived on a balcony overlooking a massive atrium, with several dozen concentric, open-air levels lining the sides. The ceiling appeared to be the inside of the dome that could be seen from the outside, and it was plastered with deep green and orange tiles. 

Euphemia walked over to a metal plate that was affixed to the railing of the balcony, and tapped one of the symbols on it. 

The balcony then detached from the wall, and floated over the crowded atrium floor, to one of the levels on the other side, about three floors below where they had been originally. 

James dazedly followed his Mum through an archway to a small desk, where an old man sat. He then stamped their travel documents, and signed a piece of parchment, which opened their floo connection for the next day. 

James barely paid attention to the whole conversation, instead staring at his surroundings. The ministry appeared to be submerged deep into the rock of the hill, as the atrium was far taller than the main structure was on the outside. 

After only a couple minutes, Euphemia took James’ hand, and they used the same balcony to leave. Since it was already nearing supper time, they walked through the park to Kamila’s house, and met Fleamont outside. 

Dinner was tense, albeit exquisitely delicious, as usual. 

It was nice to see his cousins, but they were so much older and had very different interests, so it was hard to have a lot of fun with them. Even so, James still enjoyed being around them when he could, because his Mum and Aunt refused to ever be near each other in England unless absolutely necessary. That was actually the reason Albert and Amelia had attended Beauxbatons instead of Hogwarts, but neither sister was ever going to admit it. 

After a session of semi-awkward goodbyes, the three Potters made their way down the alleys, and James made sure to nick a couple lychees off the trees on their way. It was hard to get them fresh and as delicious in England, and he wanted his friends to try some. 

He was actually much more tired than he felt, and as soon as they arrived home, he stumbled into bed and fell asleep. 

His parents woke him up quite late, mostly because it was only 12:30pm in Varanasi, and the Hogwarts Express wouldn’t be leaving Kings Cross for four more hours. 

The family lugged all of their items into the fireplace, making sure to have everything properly adjusted for their fireplace at home, and then Fleamont fetched the floo powder, and they were off. 

As soon as they arrived home, James thundered up the stairs, levitating his trunk in front of him, and immediately started packing for hogwarts. 

Euphemia prepared a small lunch, and as soon as he ate it, they apparated to the alley near Kings Cross, and James was getting onto the train. 

Just like the way there, he sat with Emmeline, Peter, and Dorcas, and the entire ride was all but silent. Peter was sleeping, as per usual, and Dorcas and Emmeline were reading. James fidgeted in his seat, and decided to wander the corridors, hoping he wouldn’t get accosted by a prefect. 

As soon as he closed the door, a familiar voice spoke up behind him. 

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t  _ Potter _ .”

A scowl grew of James’ face, and he spun around to face the voice, “Snivellus, if I were you, I would choose my next few words  _ very carefully _ .”

Severus smirked, and as soon as James pulled out his wand, an expression of mock-fear grew on his face, and he shouted, “Prefect, Potter is pulling out his wand on me!”

A random sixth year appeared from the compartment next to them, and glared at James, “Put that away. Now”

“But, he-” James started. 

“Detention, tonight,” the prefect said, and at first James was confused at his near-immediate use of severe punishment, but then he saw the Slytherin colors on the prefect’s robes, and he rolled his eyes and stepped back into the cabin. 

Peter, who had awoken by that point, turned and asked, “Severus?”

James nodded, and then Dorcas spoke up, 

“What do you have against him? We know he’s bigoted and annoying, but what Slytherin isn’t?”

Peter looked at her pointedly, and quickly said “He did something to Sirius. We can’t say what though, for… reasons.”

James simply nodded, thankful that he didn’t have to explain again. 

After a couple more uncomfortably quiet moments, at least for James, they arrived in Hogsmeade, and the four students, now accompanied by Lily, boarded a carriage to the school. 

The feast was a bit more underwhelming that James remembered, and the flavors felt lacking compared to what he had been having in Varanasi. He did hand out the lychees he had brought back to his friends, as he had stowed them in his robes before they left the train. The fruits were quite well received, and even Lily gave a slight smile, before looking away. 

Unfortunately, she proceeded to give him a medley of nasty looks in the Great Hall, once Severus had walked over and quietly informed her of his version of what James had done on the train. 

James didn’t get mad at her, though. She hadn’t done anything wrong, it was just her friend that was a shitty person.

James didn’t really even pay attention to her or Snivellus anyways, he spent more time talking with Sirius and Remus than he did eating; he was so excited to see them again. 

When they finally left the Great Hall, and made their way up to the dorms, James stepped into the toilet for a second, and when he stepped out, he was surprised to see Remus and Sirius in the same bed, tangled around each other 

“Um…” James started. 

“It’s better this way,” Sirius quickly said. 

“We stay warmer. And it was lonely with only us in the dorms,” Remus finished, blushing.    
James slowly nodded, and got into his own bed. Before too long, he drifted off to sleep, dreaming of willow trees and domed cities.

The odd feelings he had picked up on between Remus and Sirius were quickly swept aside by the impending Quidditch tournament.

Genevé Rogers, the new Gryffindor Captain, had rapidly scaled up their practices after break, evidently having some change in state of mind regarding Ravenclaw’s competency on the Quidditch Pitch. 

The match was scheduled for the first saturday after the holidays, and with only five days left to practice, patience was running thin in both houses. 

When the day finally came, James woke up only slightly earlier than he normally did, trying to get in as much sleep as possible. 

Genevé called them down to the pitch at nine o’clock, about an hour before the game. Ravenclaw was already preparing, with most players already having changed, and Seneca and several others were warming up, flying around the pitch. Gryffindor was in the middle of a team meeting, and Genevé was busy explaining the strategy to the new players, which included Sirius and a second year chaser. James and Marlene half-listened, but they had already been forced to sit through the same lecture numerous times, and thought it a waste of their time. 

It was quite foggy out, and unusually cold, so it felt just like it had on the first game of the year, in mid-February. 

Before he knew it, Madame Hooch was calling James and the other players to the center of the field, and the match was starting. 

James kicked off, and immediately flew into position. The game went by far faster than originally anticipated, and Ravenclaw quickly overtook Gryffindor. 

The other teams’ chasers were much better than James had thought, and although he himself was far better than them, the other Gryffindor Chasers were quickly falling behind. Marlene and Sirius were struggling to keep up with the pace of the game, and Genevé was visibly panicking over the state of the scoreboard.

Meanwhile, Emmeline was proving to be one of the best players James had ever played against, and every couple minutes or so, he would see Seneca shoot by in his peripheral vision, clearly searching for the snitch. 

James remembered very clearly the moment when it happened; the fifth year Hufflepuff girl that was in control of the microphone had just announced the thirty minute mark, and then James saw Seneca spiral towards the ground. Something was clearly wrong with his broom, and the boy was struggling to keep control. 

Right then, the Gryffindor seeker had gotten ahold of the snitch, and the game was over. Unfortunately for James’ team, they had lost by only one point, but he was more wrapped up in what had happened to Seneca’s broom. The boy was standing off to the side of the Ravenclaw crowd, next to Emmeline, and looking incredibly annoyed. 

“What happened,” James asked, running over to the two players. 

“I dunno,” Seneca said, glaring at the Gryffindor stand. 

James followed his gaze, and saw several sixth and seventh-year Gryffindors laughing and pointing at him. At first, James didn’t think much of it, but then he saw their wands out.   
“Are.. Did they hex your broom,” James asked, confused. 

“Probably. I don’t really care though,” Seneca said, taking on a malicious tone, “They still lost so it’s not like they achieved anything.”

Then he realized who he was talking to, and quickly apologized, saying “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. Just, they didn’t get what they wanted, so I don’t really care.”

“They could have hurt you,” James said, starting to get more and more angry at the older students. 

Noticing James’ change in temperament, Seneca quickly said, “They’re much older than us. And it’s not worth it to make a whole scene. Plus, half of them are prefects, so it’s not like they’d get in trouble.”

James gave a curt nod, and quickly stormed off towards the Gryffindor group. 

As he walked away, he heard Emmeline say, referring to the older Gryffindor bunch, “You see, that’s the toxic side of Gryffindor. They feel threatened when they’re not winning anymore, and they’re so courageous that they’ll do whatever they need to maintain their  _ dignity _ .”

Coming from anyone else, or rather during any other situation, James would’ve been annoyed, but she was kind of right.

Shrugging her comment off, he met up with Marlene and Sirius.

“What happened?” Marlene asked, confused. 

James pointed at the group of older Gryffindors, “They were hexing his broom. ‘S why Seneca almost fell, and why he missed the snitch.”

Sirius balked, “Gryffindors wouldn’t do that.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Marlene said, “I’ve seen some of us Lions do some pretty bloody awful things when we need to.”

“Well, we have a new prank target,” James said to Sirius, who only looked to be only partially on board with that statement. 

Seneca and Emmeline invited the Gryffindor Players and the rest of their friends to the Ravenclaw victory party, and at first, James was inclined to decline, but when he saw the amount of Hufflepuffs and Slytherins that were streaming towards Ravenclaw Tower, he changed his mind.

Ravenclaws were known for the goods they could get their hands out, and being the most clever house, there was a lot of it. Butterbeer and numerous different treats from Honeydukes were scattered throughout the common room, and just like the party they had attended the year before, there was a pungent, musky smell floating through the air, coming from the same reading nook as the last time. 

The party was quite fun, but their presence was quite awkward, so they left before too long. James went to sleep, feeling a bit disappointed, but more annoyed, at what his housemates did to attempt a win. If it wasn’t an honest victory, then it wasn’t a victory at all, in James’ mind. 

The next couple months were fraught with detentions resulting from their particularly nasty prank on the group of Gryffindor students that had hexed Seneca (They had affixed lizard eggs to the students hair with permanent sticking charms, which hatched after a week). 

In between detentions and other pranks, the four began to gather the materials for becoming Animagi. The mandrake leaves were the easiest to gather, all James had to do was nick them from the Greenhouses during herbology, but the other ingredients had to be gotten much more carefully. Sirius managed to break into the Potions storage room in early May, and it was at that point that they had gathered everything they needed. Keeping a mandrake leaf in one’s mouth for an entire month was quite arduous, as James found, but they all dealt with it. Remus sat back and observed, appearing to grow increasingly panicked as the ‘experiment’ went on. His May transformation went slightly worse than it was originally thought, and James felt partially at fault, for all the stress they were pushing onto Remus,

The stress also appeared to be getting to Sirius, who snapped several times at Peter, as the smaller boy would not stop whining about potential imprisonment and punishment. 

Finally, on the first weekend of June, the mandrake process was finished. They then had to brew the potion, which they did in secret in the dorm, and then hide it in one of the abandoned passageways in the dungeon until the time came to finish everything. 

It was the last week of school, and James was tired of recited that stupid incantation every day; ‘ _ Amato, Animo, Animato, Animagus _ ’ was starting to get stuck in his head. 

One night, when they were about to sleep, it started to rain almost nonstop, and then James saw lightning. 

He looked at Sirius and Peter, and they already knew what to do. 

The three, plus Remus, crowded under the invisibility cloak, and hurried down to their hiding place, accidentally making several loud noises on the way down; they were lucky Filch didn’t find them. 

As soon as they got ahold of the potion, the three drank it, not looking to wait any longer, for fear that the storm would pass. It tasted horrendous, and then it was over. James didn’t feel anything different at first, but when he focused on the thought of turning into an animal, he could definitely feel something different. He asked Sirius, and he too reported feeling the same feeling, although Peter was still confused. 

Not wanting to get caught, they made their way back up to the dorms, and fell asleep, dreaming of animals and werewolves. 

The last couple days passed fairly quickly, scattered with goodbyes and relaxed lessons. Eventually, James had to pack, although he did put it off until the morning they had to leave. The four boys made their way down to the Great Hall, and after a hastily eaten breakfast, they squeezed into a compartment with Marlene, Dorcas, and Mary. The three girls were quite fun to be around, and there was never a dull moment with them. 

All of a sudden, the Hogwarts Express was rolling into the station, and the students were disembarking, meeting up with their families. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if the Quidditch scene writing was too similar to the one(s) in second year, I’m not great at writing those so my structuring was pretty similar.   
> Anyways, I barely got this out on time, but I hope to have 3rd year summer (Lily POV) out by the end of tomorrow.  
> Also, I reread the 1st chapter and I really hate the way I wrote it, so because of editing delays I'll probably only get done with fifth year by the end of break.  
> \+ Mera Suraj means My Sunshine in Hindi (according to a translation website I used)
> 
> Thanks for reading, do good today!
> 
> (As always, corrections and suggestions are welcome, I would hate to make any mistakes and/or inaccuracies)
> 
> SPOILERS:  
> As fourth year will feature the start of Seneca and Regulus’ relationship, it is important to note that they will both be fourteen at the time, as Regulus will be at the oldest end of his year, and Seneca towards the younger end of his year. ALSO: They are minors, so I will not be writing anything explicit.


	8. Third Year, Summer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summer of third year, from Lily's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I wasn’t able to get this posted yesterday, I was way busier than I thought I would be.  
> Anyways, this chapter is really short, sorry about that. I’ve already started on part one of fourth year, so that should be published by Monday Night at the latest.

**TW: Homophobic slurs**

As soon as the Express arrived into the station, Lily gathered her belongings, and after saying a quick goodbye to Seneca, Emmeline, and Remus, she walked over to her parents.

Not seeing her younger sister, she asked, “Mum, where’s Tuney?”

Her mother’s expression soured, and she slowly responded, “She was, um, she wasn’t able to come.”

Lily was confused by that, but she just gave her Mum and Dad a small smile, and proceeded to follow them to the Tube entrance. 

Her parents, Cai and Anne, hated to drive in the inner city, so they almost always took public transit when they needed to go into London. Lily, for one, didn’t usually care; she could spend the entire time talking to and playing games with her sister, but that wasn’t going to be able to happen this time around. 

The ride on the tube was quite long, almost an hour, as they had to transfer between two different trains as they made their way to Cokeworth, which was a small town near Watford, on the outskirts of London. 

Lily strongly disliked riding without her sister, as her parents simply chose to read the entire time, and she was instead far more aware of the prying looks she got from dozens of passersby. Frankly, she wasn’t surprised people were staring at her; it wasn’t everyday you saw a thirteen-year-old on the train with two massive trunks and an owl. 

After an excruciatingly boring hour, Lily’s Parents helped her carry her things, and the three loaded them into the family car, which had been parked near the Overground station in Watford. 

Lily stared out of the window as they drove, passing by several prettier towns, until they entered Cokeworth. 

Lily’s family lived in a slightly nicer area of Cokeworth; their home was a standalone, and had a vibrant garden which backed up to a pond, but Lily couldn’t say the same about much of the rest of the town, and especially the street Severus lived on. 

Much of Cokeworth was built in the late Industrial Revolution, and featured drab, grey and brown, identical rowhouses, with trash littering the sidewalks, and perpetual smog lingering in the air. 

Severus’ street, Spinner’s End, embodied the worst of Cokeworth, so Lily rarely ever went over to his house. Not like she would want to anyways, his mother was a downright sour person, and his Dad, Tobias, was even worse. Lily didn’t know the full extent of how badly they treated him, but she did know that his father was barely ever home, and all his mother did was echo and carry out Tobias’ punishments and abuse. 

Lily was distracted by the large mill chimney that loomed over the village, as it appeared over the horizon. 

She absolutely hated it, and as a child, she would think of the tower as a representation of all the negative things in her life; looming over her like a shadow. The days that she wouldn’t be able to see it, usually thanks to fog or rain, tended to be better days. 

She had originally supposed it to be a stupid superstision, but when Severus informed her of her magical capabilities, he also told her how a Dementor had inhabited the tower for several decades in the late 19th century, before the Ministry found it, and shipped it off as a prison guard to Azkaban. Apparently, its negative presence still loomed over the town, and could be more easily sensed by those that could practice magic. 

It was several years before she found out what a dementor was, and it was with that discovery that she became extremely glad the creature was gone. 

As soon as they arrived home, Lily helped her parents bring her things up to her room, and then she went searching for Petunia. 

“Tuney?” she called, entering the kitchen

Her sister looked up at her, and Lily was taken aback at her expression. 

Usually, Petunia looked up at her older sister with a face of admiration and love; but her face was marred with disgust and jealousy. It made her unfortunately long neck and beaky nose stick out even more, and Lily involuntarily stepped back.

“ _Back from your freak school, aren’t you_ ,” Petunia spat, before stepping up from the table, and leaving the room, slamming the door behind her. 

Lily just stood there in shock for a moment, before Anne walked in.

“So you talked to her,” she started. 

“What… what happened,” Lily asked, her voice wavering.

“She stopped trying to send letters to Hogwarts. She gave up on ever being.. you know..”

“ _Why is she taking it out on me_ ,” Lily said, tears pooling in her eyes. Her sister had never talked to her like that before, it was shocking, “ _Everything was fine over the Easter Holidays?_ ’

Her mother sighed, before picking up a letter from the table, and showing Lily the label. 

“She had been communicating with Professor Dumbledore, but then she received a cease communications order from the _Ministry_ ,” her face twisted at the mention of the Magical Government, which had been none too kind to her family, mostly due to their blood status. 

Lily looked at her in surprise, “I.. I didn’t know she was talking to him..”

“She wanted to be, well, like you, but unfortunately she’s not.”

“But that’s not my fault!”  
“I think she knows that, but she’s just looking for someone to blame. She’ll get over it,” Anne said, semi-reassuringly. 

Lily nodded slowly, and then trudged up to her room. 

She only came down later for dinner, and Petunia refused to even look at her, instead insisting upon sitting at the complete opposite end of the table. Lily tried not to cry, but it was really very hard. Tuney was her little sister; she couldn’t just let her go so easily. 

The Summer passed very slowly, and Lily spent most of the days with Severus. It was easy to be around him most of the time, if she ignored his constant criticisms of her friends. He knew, at least, to avoid talking about Seneca, Emmeline, and Remus, but the amount of things he continued to spout about her other friends, and especially James, was starting to get on her nerves. 

It was a Wednesday afternoon in early August when Lily finally lost her patience with him.

The two were sitting in the Evans’ garden, playing with flowers, when Severus said something along the lines of “I would be ashamed to be friends with a blood traitor like Potter, _and_ a half-blood like McKinnon.”

Lily spun around and threw her bundle of gardenias at his face; “Marlene is my friend. And don’t attack James for something as irrelevant as that. If blood relations and status _really_ mattered that much to you, why would you be friends with me?”

Severus opened and closed his mouth, and Lily thought he looked rather like a fish. 

She continued, “Also, are you not a half-blood? That’s quite hypocritical.”

The boy turned puce, and looked as if he was about to say something that would leave Lily rather gutted, but then Petunia spoke up from the kitchen window, 

“Hanging out with your _freak_ friend, Lily? Don’t give me whatever disease you two have,” the girl spat. 

Severus turned and threw a pebble at her, and miraculously, it smacked her right in between the eyes, leaving a red welt. Petunia screamed, and slammed the window closed, likely running to go tell Anne. 

“Why did you do that? Did you use magic to hit her?” Lily asked, sharply. 

“She deserved it,” he said, matter-of-factly. 

Lily glared at him, and he continued, “She’s just jealous that you’re special and she’s not.”

“Severus, that’s horrible,” Lily exclaimed, “Why are you so mean?”

The boy balked, “She was mean to you first!”

Lily reddened, “I don’t mean just that. You say such horrible things about my friends, and now my sister too, yet you constantly expect me to be on your side. It’s getting quite tiresome.”

He looked up at her, evidently surprised at her reaction. 

“Lily, I-”

“Don’t bother. I have to help prepare supper,” she stated, which was a lie. Her Mum wanted Thai take-away that evening for dinner, so there was no cooking to be done. 

Lily quickly walked inside, and as she closed the glass door, she saw Severus looking up at her forlornly.

Turning away, she was met with the sight of her Mum and sister, the latter of which was glaring at her. 

Lily spent the next week avoiding Petunia and Severus, and when an Owl arrived from Seneca, planning a luncheon in Hampstead Heath with some of her friends, she was filled with joy. Finally, a day where she could actually be happy, and not be constantly confronted by Petunia staring her down inside the house, and Severus staring at her bedroom window from the outside. 

Because of the difficult logistics of using public transit, Seneca informed her that his Mum would side-along apparate her to the Locklear’s residence. 

Irene arrived at 12pm exactly, and rapped sharply on the Evans’ door. 

Anne was evidently intimidated by her, as nearly everyone seemed to be. Irene must’ve stood at least 190cm tall, if not more, and she wore her usual dark ‘business casual’ style, which only succeeded in making her look at the more scary. 

Her sleek black hair was swept to one side, and Lily didn’t miss her own mother absent-mindedly stroke her own short dark curls. 

After a quick greeting, Irene gave a rare warm smile to Lily, and the two disappeared from the spot with a crack. 

Lily _hated_ the feeling of apparating, and probably even more than most people, as she had not grown up getting used to it. 

Seneca was already waiting with Remus and Emmeline in the Locklear’s parlor, and the three grinned at the sight of Lily’s arrival. 

“Hey Lily, nice to see you,” Seneca said, and stepped up to hug her. Emmeline and Remus quickly followed suit in a similar fashion, and after swearing to be safe and responsible, the four collected the food basket from the icebox, and bounded out of the flat. 

It was a decent, fifteen minute walk to the spot Seneca and Emmeline had chosen for them to eat at, as Lily and Remus were barely familiar with the park at all. 

Remus and Emeline spread out the blanket when they arrived, as Seneca and Lily set the food out, and unwrapped several different packages that Mrs. Locklear had packed for them. 

There was a large spread of different cheeses, fruits, and breads, and several american snacks that Lily didn’t recognize. 

After Seneca explained the various foodstuffs, the group ate slowly, as they spent much of their time talking about what they had done over the summer, and their course selections for the next school year. Lily avoided talking about Severus, as she knew it was likely to not go over well with everyone, although it would go much worse if she mentioned him around Marlene or Sirius, and especially James. 

At one point, Emmeline pulled some makeup out of her bag, and after a good ten minutes of goading, Seneca and Remus caved, and let the two girls curl their eyelashes and apply some eye makeup, which was the most they would agree to. 

According to Remus, it was okay because it was “Trendy,” although he made sure to say that he didn’t mean makeup was exclusively for girls, just that he “personally wouldn’t wear it,” whatever that meant. 

The four then gathered up their belongings, stuffing it back into the basket, and wandered through a forested area of the park. 

Seneca discreetly used his wand to transfigure a stick into a frisbee, much to Emmeline’s ire, as she warned repeatedly that he would get fined for underage magic. The Ministry likely wouldn’t do anything about it though, the most that would happen would be a short note delivered to Seneca’s parents. 

After that, they tossed the disc around as they made their way back to West Hampstead, and when they were in sight of the street, Seneca turned it back into a stick and stowed it behind a bush. 

The sun was beginning to set, and LIly was happy to be with her friends, although the looming feeling of returning home hung over her head. 

As they made their way down the street, a group of presumably muggle boys around their age started tailing them. Before too long, the two groups were right next to each other, and then one of the boys spoke up; 

“Oi, what’re yous fine looking birds doing with some ‘poufs like those two?”  
“We’re not bent,” Remus said quickly, as he reddened, turning to stare at the sidewalk. 

“Mates, ya’hear this one? ‘Says that he’s not a fag?” the boy crowed, his face distorted by an evil grin. 

“Honestly, coming from someone that looks like a bulldog’s arsehole, that doesn’t really mean a lot. Maybe you shut consider shutting your fucking mouth and going back to school at some point, because clearly you haven’t attended in quite some time,” Seneca said coldly, glaring at the boys. 

The one who had originally spoken up nearly turned purple, and then spat, “What’re you? A fuckin’ immigrant? We don’t need your kind here.”

“My ethnicity and nationality don’t concern you, and if that’s something you’ll use in an argument, then you really aren’t worth my time. Seriously, get lost.”

“Are you a fucking American?” One of the other boys asked.

“And?”

“Well-” he started, before Emmeline threw a large rock at his foot. 

He yelped in pain, and everyone turned and looked at her in surprise. 

“Oi, shut up, he deserved it,” she said.

Following her lead, Seneca and Lily reached for some other rocks by the pavement, and when they started throwing, the boys scattered. 

Remus still looked a bit shaken though, and quietly asked Seneca, “Why did you get so mad when they said that?”

“I wasn’t mad because of what they said. T’wasn’t insulting. It was just annoying, and you could tell they meant it as an insult. Not like being gay is an insult though,” the boy finished, quickly. 

Remus looked oddly relieved, and Seneca looked to be a bit pink in the cheeks. Lily took note of that, and after receiving a strange look from Emmeline, the four finished making their way back to the Locklear’s residence. 

Lily hated going back home, but she knew she couldn’t avoid it. Even so, there were only three weeks left of summer, so it would all go by very quickly. 

She spent what little time she had left at home mostly with her parents, and she owled back and forth frequently with Emmeline and Seneca, as Remus’ mom still hadn’t had a chance to set up a dedicated owl post drop-off at his house, and Lily didn’t want to overwhelm her. 

Petunia didn’t say a word to Lily, other than common courtesies, and it broke her heart just a little bit more each time, when she walked past her sister in the hallway, or sat next to her at breakfast, and didn’t receive a response or even an acknowledgment. 

Severus continued to follow her, and one day, he finally caught up with her when she was biking to the grocer’s to pick up some milk;

“Lily, wait,” he called out, as she passed him on the pavement. 

On a whim, she came to a halt, and turned back to face him, “What do you want?”

Evidently surprised that she had stopped, it took him a second to talk. 

“Why haven’t you been talking to me all Summer? And why were you spending time with people like that?”

“People like what?” she asked, confused. 

“Vance, Locklear and Lupin,” he spat.

“How did you..” she started, before she realized what he had done.  
“ _Were you going through my mail_?” she shouted, stunned. 

He opened and closed his mouth, and her fury nearly overwhelmed her. 

“Honestly, you do shite like this, and wonder why I haven’t been talking to you? Get a grip,” she said, with an even tone that barely masked her rage. 

“Well, you do know how I’m treated at home..” he started, looking up at her hopefully.   
Lily didn’t know what to do. At first she thought, ‘How dare he use that as an excuse’, but then she realized that he might actually be being genuine. 

She sighed, and quickly said, “I’ll sit with you on the train, okay? Just leave me alone for the rest of the Summer.”

He smiled up at her, and unnerved, she biked off. 

Before she knew it, the first of September had already rolled around, and Lily sprung out of bed, already having packed her trunks. She bounded down into the kitchen, and came to an abrupt halt, not seeing Petunia in the kitchen. 

“Is she not coming?” Lily asked, in a small voice. 

“I don’t think so,” her Dad said, taking Lily into a sad embrace. 

Lily tried not to cry through breakfast and the ride to the station, and the second she entered her usual compartment that she shared with Severus, she broke down into tears. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can’t remember if it’s canon that Petunia is younger or older than Lily, but in this fic she’s younger because it works better.  
> Thanks for reading, have a nice day!
> 
> As always, corrections & suggestions are welcome!
> 
> Semi spoilers?  
> I saw a hedric tiktok yesterday that gave me a ton of inspiration for the second part of this fic, so here’s the link;  
> https://www.tiktok.com/@harrypottersbathwater/video/6900340490521152774?  
> only difference is that Cedric won't die in mine :)  
> {Happy hedric^^^}


	9. Fourth Year, Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seneca POV from September until December

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this chapter is really really short, I didn’t have much to write about, so it’s mostly just focusing on building Seneca’s personality and providing the backgrounds of future relationships. New chapter should be out tonight, I’m going to try to get a chapter out at least every other day until the end of break.

**TW: Bullying**

It was the first Day of School, and Seneca barely arrived on time to Kings Cross; Nadia had fallen asleep in the middle of packing the night before, and Maya refused to get into her cage. Irene had to resort to using an accio charm to summon the cat, while Nick struggled to dig through Nadia’s mess of a room. 

They stumbled through the barrier less than five minutes before the Express left, and Seneca was barely able to say goodbye before he rushed onto the train and dumped his belongings into the compartment that Emmeline, Marlene, Dorcas, and Mary had already reserved. 

Seneca spent much of the journey playing wizard chess with Dorcas and Emmeline, while Mary finished her Herbology assignment that she had put off doing until the last minute. 

Marlene switched back and forth between their compartment and that of James and his friends, so they only saw a couple quick glimpses of her, although they could definitely hear her and the boy’s laughter through the wall. 

When the train pulled into Hogsmeade station, the landscape was blanketed in a thick fog, and the school had resorted to staking a line of lamps leading to the carriages, as without lighting, it would be impossible to find one’s way. 

Seneca and his friends piled into the first carriage they could get to, although because of that, they had to sit in several smaller groups scattered around in the empty seats. 

Seneca ended up sitting next to Marlene and Dorcas, who immediately dissolved into conversation. 

With a start, he realized Regulus was directly to his right, the boy trying to avoid Seneca’s attention. 

After a couple minute’s deliberation, Seneca decided to say something, “Hi Reg, how are you?”

The younger Black brother looked at him in utter disgust, “Why would you call me that? And why would you ask how I’m doing? It’s not like anyone cares.”

Seneca’s brow furrowed, ”I didn’t want to use your full name because that sounds too formal. And I actually care how you’re doing, it doesn’t seem like you have many people who look after you.”

Regulus turned deep red, “I have plenty of people that look after me. I have Barty,” he said, gesturing to the rather unstable-looking boy to his right, who gave a shark-like grin at the mention of his name. 

Seneca shuddered, and turned back to face Regulus; “Is that enough?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I’ve said this several times now, but if you ever need help, I’m here.”

Regulus glared at him, and quietly resumed conversation with Barty, occasionally glancing at Seneca out of his peripheral vision. 

“Why do you try so hard to be nice to him?”

Seneca turned, and realized that it was Dorcas who had whispered to him. 

“He’s bigoted and rude. And he doesn’t stand up for Sirius at home.”

Glancing quickly out the window to make sure they had enough time before they had to disembark, Seneca cast a rough muffling charm around the two of them. 

Involuntarily, he double-checked that Regulus wasn’t looking at them. 

“I.. I’ve seen this behavior before,” Seneca said, slowly. 

Dorcas cocked her head, “What do you mean?”

He sighed, before elaborating, “Overly-confrontational, standoffish, blindly following your parent’s ideologies, basically the way Regulus is well, _Regulus_.”

“I’m not sure I understand,” Dorcas said, confused.

“My friend… in New York, um, she was being abused by her parents.”

Seeing Dorcas’ expression, he quickly continued, “Not physically. Well, not exclusively physically, I think. It was mostly emotional abuse and stuff. And she acted _exactly_ how Regulus does; spouting exactly what their parents tell them, even if they don’t agree with it, being too scared to speak up, just being, you know, the way he’s different from Sirius.”

“Everyone turns out differently in an abusive home,” Dorcas said softly. 

Seneca grew concerned, “Is everything okay with you?”

“Oh, it’s not me,” she exclaimed, “My Mom was treated really badly growing up. She’s one of the nicest people I know, but her brother turned out…. less than nice.”

Seneca’s face fell a bit, and he took Dorcas into a hug. He liked talking to her, she was always one that was great to confide in and talk to.

“But how do you know he doesn’t agree with that?” she asked. 

“Well, I can’t remember everything, but he doesn’t really do anything to back up his threats. And he only says shite like that when he’s around his more bigoted friends, and when he’s confronted about those comments.”

“I guess,” Dorcas said, clearly about to say something else, but was interrupted by Marlene breaking the charm to inform them of their arrival at the viaduct. 

Dorcas gave Seneca a quick smile, and then blushed as Marlene took her hand, the two rushing out of the carriage and walking hand in hand towards the Great Hall. 

Seneca grinned back at her, and then met up with Emmeline and Mary as they headed to the feast. 

Fourth year didn’t seem to be much different than third year for Seneca, classes were still reasonably hard, but not much more so than the year before. 

Professor McGonagall asked him if he wanted to take extra transfiguration lessons, as he had excelled past most of the other students in the class, and he immediately agreed. 

He had a similar situation in Charms; Professor Flitwick asked him, Emmeline, and Lily to join the after-school charms club, as they had ‘demonstrated exceptional talent’. They signed up for it, although it may demonstrate a problem once Quidditch practices start again in December. 

His proficiency in the other classes remained fairly consistent, and the new elective had signed up for that year, Ancient Runes, was proving to be quite difficult, although not impossible. 

September and October passed in what felt like a week, and all of a sudden, it was Halloween, and the first Hogsmeade weekend was the day after. 

Seneca was walking down an obscure hallway near the Astronomy tower with Dorcas as they made their way to the Great Hall for the feast, when a group of older Slytherin students rounded the corner, and focused on the two fourth-years. 

“Well, if it isn’t _Meadowes_ ,” a girl with violently blonde hair spat. 

Dorcas shrank back a little bit, before responding, “What do you want?”

The girl, whose name was Elaine, sneered, and continued, “We were just looking for some payback for what you did earlier. We can’t have a little _mudblood_ like you losing Slytherin so many points, now can we.”

“It’s not my fault that you lost points; your housemates were simply too stupid to win any,” Dorcas stated, before a look of panic crossed her face. Seneca looked on in confusion, wondering what they were even talking about. 

Elaine’s face twisted into a snarl, and she snatched out her wand, as the other Slytherins looked on blankly. 

Seneca was still watching the entire exchange in surprise, but when he saw her lips start to form the world “Crucio,” he reacted without thinking. 

“Expulso,” Seneca shouted, as rapidly as he could. 

Elaine and the three other Slytherins were thrown backwards when Seneca’s wand emitted a bright blue explosion, and before Elaine even had a chance to get up, Seneca approached her, “How _dare_ you try to use an unforgivable at school. If you have any sense, you’ll stay away from us.”

Elaine looked up in evident disgust, before dusting off her skirt and beckoning for the others to follow her. 

“What... what did you just do?” Dorcas asked, in shock, her braids blown back from her face. 

“It was an explosive spell, nothing that powerful,” Seneca responded quickly, shaken from the encounter. 

“How do you know they won’t report you?”  
“They wouldn’t dare. It would turn into a Ministry investigation, because use of unforgivables carries an Azkaban sentence. I would be made to use a pensive or veritaseum, and that’s not something they could risk. But what did you do that made them do that?”

“I may have reported a group of Slytherins in the library for being in the restricted section,” she said with a smile, “There were six of them, and Madam Pince took away one hundred points each. I don’t know what they were reading, but judging from her reaction, it must’ve been pretty bloody awful.”

Seneca grimaced, “Weird stuff is happening with the Slytherins. I don’t like it.”

Dorcas nodded, “Me too. I don’t know much about magical politics, seeing as my parents are muggles, but something isn’t right.”

“My parents have access to MACUSA intelligence services, and they said something dark is brewing in Britain, and really most of Europe. They won’t say what, although apparently it’s incredibly worrying to most other world Governments. There’s an International Commission meeting scheduled about it next winter.”

“They can wait that long,” Dorcas asked, incredulously. 

“Apparently so,” Seneca said with a sigh. 

The two finished picking up their belongings, and walked the rest of the way to the Great Hall, and they chose not to mention what had happened, although they received several odd looks from their tablemates, and multiple Slytherins. 

After that one incident in October, Seneca and his friends were mostly left alone. Slytherins were growing more and more secretive by the day, and it was starting to become worrying. Random ‘incidents’ would occur around the school on a near-daily basis at that point, and it was very obviously the doing of James, Remus, Sirius, and occasionally, Peter. 

The extra transfiguration lessons helped out a lot, and in Mid-November, McGonagall informed Seneca that he had passed the standards for fifth-year transfiguration exams. Seneca wrote home to his parents in a fit of joy, and he received an owl within the day; his parents repeatedly described how proud they were, and continued to mention how they were already bragging to all of his aunts and uncles. 

Charms club was interesting enough, and by December, they had started to cover wards, which Seneca found he had an unusual proficiency for. Professor Flitwick mentioned how talent in specific sections of magic can be genetic, and when Seneca said how his grandmother was none other than Seraphina Picquery, the tiny man nearly exploded in a fit of surprise. He spent the entire rest of the club’s duration that day going on and on about Seneca’s Grandmother’s advancements in the field of ward-making and breaking, much to the boy’s embarrassment. 

Quidditch practice started back up in early December, and for the third year in a row, the Ravenclaw team had a new captain; a sixth-year named Ashley Choi. She seemed to be quite adept at the sport, but her practice hours were incredibly relaxed compared to those that Amanda had scheduled the year before, which worried Seneca. They couldn’t let their guard down because they had won once, but the team seemed to be in good shape, so he didn’t say anything. 

Before he knew it, Seneca was packing up his belongings to go home for the Winter Hols, struggling to cram in all of the things he had bought from Honeyduke’s and Zonko’s. It seemed that no one was staying back for break that year, as most parents seemed to have grown oddly protective of their children that year. Seneca was inclined to believe that it was the result of whatever was brewing in Europe, but he still had no idea what “it” was, so he didn’t want to build on it. 

He ended up having to share a compartment with Nadia and Fazia, which wasn’t the worst thing ever, but the two girls were near-silent the entire time; whispering in each other’s ears and glancing back at Seneca periodically. 

By the time the train rolled into the station, Seneca was on the verge of falling asleep, and he stumbled off the train. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is so short, but I’m planning on writing a separate epilogue thing in advance for the part 2 of this fic (SPOILERS: happy hedric endgame) so check that out if you want.  
> Also I may create a tumblr at some point because I did make some art for this series so I’ll link it if I do.  
> Thanks for reading, have a nice day!


	10. Fourth Year, Winter Holidays

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sirius POV for Winter Hols (At the Potter’s)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is also pretty short tbh but if I don’t fall asleep at my desk again I should be able to finish the school portion of fourth year tonight. 
> 
> Also here’s a link to the tumblr post I made (art of Magical Varanasi): https://cedricluvie.tumblr.com/post/638899127447699456

**TW: internalized Homophobia, mild internalized fragile masculinity.**

Sirius was overjoyed to be at the Potter’s; for the first time in years, he wouldn’t be forced to adhere to ridiculous rules and sit through stupid family gatherings. The thought of Regulus didn’t even cross his mind until Seneca brought it up when he stopped by their train compartment on the way home, but Sirius didn’t think much of it. Regulus was the little ‘perfect sibling’ and nothing bad would happen to him. He was just a little Mommy’s boy. 

The Potter’s house was better than Sirius could’ve ever imagined, it was inviting and warm in every way that Grimmauld Place was cold and imposing; Euphemia and Fleamont greeted him with open arms, and even gave him a bedroom that they had specially repainted with Gryffindor colors. Sirius almost broke down in tears on the spot, but he reminded himself that strong boys didn’t cry. Peter came by at one point to help him get adjusted, although Sirius wasn’t too happy at that. It’s not that he didn’t like Peter, the boy was just tiring to be around, with his constant nervousness and lack of desire to do fun things, although Sirius’ definition of ‘fun things’ was also known as ‘illegal things’.

He and James roamed the neighborhood nearly every day, popping in and out of different stores at random. James took him down to the record shop, and even promised to buy Sirius several records, and the boy had never been happier in his life. 

Sirius couldn’t stop listening to James’ music over the break, much to the ire of Euphemia and James, who had to sit through countless hours of the Beatles and other bands blasting through the walls and floorboards. It must’ve only been three days into his stay when Sirius made a trip down to the records store with some of the ‘living money’ Walburga had allotted to him, and bought multiple records and half of a wardrobe of muggle clothes. It brought him great joy to know how furious she would be if she knew what her money was being spent on, which only motivated him to buy more. 

When it was announced that Remus was coming to stay for the latter half of the Hols, James and Sirius made a plan to perfect their Animagus forms together for the first time, as they had only been transforming independently until they could get it entirely correct. Peter, of course, was nowhere near ready, so the other two boys had to assist him nearly every day, explaining exactly what they did to achieve a transformation, down to the smallest detail. 

Eventually, the three gathered the courage to switch to their animal forms together, but only when Euphemia and Fleamont were out of the house.

It was a Friday afternoon, just a day before Remus was supposed to arrive, and the three stepped into the Potter’s backyard. They muttered the short enchantment; “ _ Amato, Animo, Animato, Animagus, _ ” and as soon as he saw his friends transform, Sirius could’ve burst out laughing on the spot. Except, he no longer seemed to be in control of his vocal chords; instead, a weird choking noise came out. 

James had changed into the form of a large stag, who was struggling to stand properly on its long legs. Peter was nowhere to be seen at first, until Sirius looked down, and saw a fat brown rat in the snow. 

After a good five minutes of staring at each other, and struggling to communicate, the three mustered the strength to transform back into their human forms. The second he was back into his human form, James fell onto the ground laughing, as did Sirius. Peter just kind of stood there awkwardly, smiling. 

“So, you’re a mangy old dog,” James said, tears in his eyes, “And you’re a fat rat.”

Peter reddened, “Rats are actually quite smart.”

“Oi, s’okay Pete. Wasn’t making fun of you,” James said, still laughing.    
“‘M not a mangy dog,” Sirius said, still smiling. 

“It totally fits your personality, mate, “James said.

“It kind of does, to be honest,” Peter said. 

“What about it?” Sirius asked, trying not to get annoyed at Peter’s piling on. 

“I mean, you just act like a dog. Can’t really describe it. Am I going to have to start bathing you?” James asked, jokingly. 

Sirius laughed, and then threw a fistful of snow at James. 

“Oi, what the fuck,” James shouted, and then proceeded to throw one back. 

Peter ran and hid behind one of the pillars by the house, and began to throw snowballs long distance. 

Sirius smiled, and just for a moment, he forgot the reason he was there. 

Remus arrived on the 26th, the day after a laidback Christmas celebration with the Potters and Pettigrews. Sirius found it to be fun enough, and definitely considerably more enjoyable than Christmases with the Black family. 

Hope and her son apparated onto the doorstep with the assistance of Fleamont, Remus looking tall and overwhelmingly handsome, as usual, at which Sirius had to banish some unusual thoughts from his mind. It wasn’t like he could think of Remus in that way, boys couldn’t think of other boys like that. 

Euphemia requested for them to stay for the Boxing Day party, and Hope reluctantly agreed, although she ended up looking on edge the entire time, especially so when she witnessed the kitchen cleaning itself. She ended up leaving shortly after lunch, and Sirius helped Remus move into one of the spare bedrooms. 

After Dinner that night, Sirius crept into Remus’ room, and silently got in bed with him. Remus didn’t entirely acknowledge his presence, but the second Sirius got in bed, the taller boy shifted over, and wrapped his arms around him. It was at that moment that Sirius was happy that the room was so dark, as he could feel his entire face blushing. He felt something weird in his heart and lower regions, and his cheeks grew even hotter. He ended up not falling asleep until four in the morning, instead thinking about what was making him be like that, mentally beating himself up over it. 

The next day, James, Sirius, and Peter showed Remus their animagus forms for the first time, much to the boy’s initial surprise, and then amusement. 

He wouldn’t stop teasing the three over their forms, and especially Sirius; “I just knew you would be a dog. It’s just so,  _ you _ ,” he laughed.

Sirius gave a sarcastic grin, and sat through much of the same comments for the entire rest of the week. 

On their last day there, James took the other three boys down to the local chippie, and after they had received their food, they waited for the cashier to turn around. As soon as his back was facing away from them, the four snatched several drinks from the counter-fridge, and took off running. 

The old man chased after them, before hollering, “Oi, you fuckin’ marauders, come back here again and I’ll have ya’thrown in prison!”

Sirius laughed, and was then caught off guard by James’ expression.    
“What?” Sirius asked.    
“‘Marauders’”, James sounded out, “It’s perfect.”

“What’s perfect?” Remus asked. 

“The name.”

“I still don’t get it,” Peter said. 

“It's the perfect name for all of us. You know, the four of us; ‘The Marauders’,” James said with a smile. 

“Oi, that actually works pretty bloody well,” Remus laughed. 

Sirius and Peter nodded, before Sirius added, “Well, what about individual nicknames? We can’t have a group name and not ones for each of us.”

“I dunno,” Remus said. 

“Oi, for you we ‘ought to do ‘Moony’,” Peter said. 

Remus paled, “That does  _ not _ sound like a good idea.“

“It’s okay,  _ Moony _ ,” James crooned, “It’s not like anyone will find out from that.”

“Plus, I think it’s cute,” Sirius added.

‘Fuck, why did I say that,’ he quickly thought, as both he and Remus’ faces flushed. 

James looked at them oddly, before continuing, “Well, for me, I was thinking  _ Prongs _ , cause of, y’know,” he said, gesturing to where his antlers would be if he was in his animagus form. 

“Well, what about us?” Peter said, referencing himself and Sirius.

“Whiskers?” James said to Peter, at which the boy immediately grimaced. 

“Well, we can always figure it out later. Let’s go eat mates,” James said, leading the way back to his house. 

Sirius smiled, and thought of nicknames and animals, painfully unaware of what was going on back at his own home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah so this chapter is also really really short, but the rest of fourth year should be done by tomorrow night. I’m setting a deadline and I swear I’ll go by it.   
> To be honest, I’m probably going to come back and edit this chapter and the one before it because I’m so tired right now and I doubt the writing is entirely coherent.   
> Anyways, thanks for reading, have a great day!


	11. Fourth Year, Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seneca POV, January-June

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I did end up falling asleep, sorry this is late. Hoping to finish fifth year by the end of break. Again, just a reminder, Seneca and Regulus are only a couple months apart in age (both 14 in this chapter), despite being in different years.

**TW: Mild homophobia, referenced/implied abuse,**

Seneca was glad to be back in Britain, as he had spent Winter Break at his grandparent’s estate in Arizona. It wasn’t that he didn’t like it there; he loved seeing his family, but it was so hot and dry that it was intolerable, with daytime temperatures being over twenty degrees celsius higher than in London, and probably even more when compared to at Hogwarts. 

They owned a large property with several conjoined buildings, on the outskirts of the Muggle city of Flagstaff, and almost all of Seneca’s Dad’s family had come, so it had been quite crowded. 

Even though his family didn’t really celebrate Christmas, the way the vacation days formed around the holiday made it so that the Christmas Hols were one of the best times to see each other. 

They had spent nearly the entire three weeks of break there, and when they finally arrived back in Britain, Seneca was relieved; the temperature was back to normal, and his skin wasn’t so dry anymore. 

There was already almost half a meter of snow built up in London, so Seneca’s parents decided to apparate to Kings Cross with the Potter’s. To Seneca’s surprise, Sirius and Remus were there with them, and he made a mental note to ask why as soon as they were on the train.

The two families, plus the two extra boys, trudged across the square through the snow, and bustled through the unusually empty Muggle concourse. 

Most families and students on the platform were entirely decked out in winter apparel, and Seneca couldn’t help but laugh at their ridiculous appearances. 

Realizing that he probably wouldn’t sit with him, Seneca pulled Sirius aside, and quietly asked, “Not to be intrusive, but why were you staying at James’? I thought your parents didn't want you associating with him?”

“S’okay to ask. And my parents don’t want me at home during the Holidays anymore, so I needed somewhere to stay,” Sirius muttered. 

“I- I’m so sorry,” Seneca responded in surprise. 

“It’s fine. Now let’s get to the train.”

The journey to Hogwarts was fraught with slippery tracks and freezing cold windows, and Seneca could’ve sworn that the entire landscape just looked like a blank sheet of white canvas at some points. 

As Seneca made his way off the train quite early, considering that he had changed much before everyone else, he heard his name being mentioned through a compartment door. 

“-Seneca is so observant. I mean, how did he even know that?” Sirius’ voice said. 

“I dunno,” Peter supplied. 

“I didn’t ask you,” Sirius snapped, and Seneca rolled his eyes from outside the compartment. Sirius’ hatred of Peter was quite irrational, and starting to get annoying. 

It was only a week into the new school year when James’ group orchestrated their first prank of the semester. They had used magical fertilizer from the plant-supply store in Hogsmeade to spell out a series of curse words on the grass outside of the Great Hall. Most people, even the Slytherins, found it funny, although nowhere near the same number of people paid attention to the small signature at the bottom; “Signed, The Marauders,” it read, in freshly grown tallgrass.

As soon as he got a chance, Seneca asked them about it; “So, The Marauders?” he said. 

Sirius smiled, “Yep.”

“I’m Prongs, Remus is Moony, Sirius is Padfoot, and Peter here is Wormtail,” James explained, as Peter sat and scowed at the mention of his own nickname. 

“Interesting,” Seneca said, confused by their name choices. It wasn’t like this was the only weird thing they had ever done, though, so was it really that surprising?

It was halfway through January when Seneca could no longer ignore what he knew, and he came to terms with the fact that he was not heterosexual. 

He didn’t want to tell anyone anytime soon, but he felt content in that he knew what he was, for the first time, he had actually thought about what his friend in New York had said about bisexuailty, and he decided that that is what described him best; he liked girls and boys. 

He felt even more confident with himself when Dorcas and Marlene announced that they were dating at breakfast one morning, and Seneca was ecstatic, not only because this meant he wasn’t the only non-straight person he knew, but judging by his friend’s reactions, he would be treated well if he came out. The only person that had a slightly negative reaction was Peter, but honestly, since when had Peter’s opinion really mattered?

In fact, it was that same day when James came to Seneca for advice. 

He described how Remus and Sirius were being incredibly awkward around each other, and making the friendship dynamic of the Marauders feel weird (Seneca was initially confused at the mention of it, he was still getting used to that stupid name). 

It took every fiber of Seneca’s being not to spontaneously combust at James’ horrid description of his problems, and Seneca had to explain six different times what the boy should do before he finally left him alone. 

Seneca felt guilty because he himself never really trusted his own judgement, and now _James_ , of all people, was using his advice as an actual plan of action. Seneca shuddered at the thought of it. 

That Saturday was the first Quidditch game of the season, and Ravenclaw was pitted against Hufflepuff. The house of the badger was quite formidable, and although it initially seemed they would secure victory, Ravenclaw pulled ahead with the catching of the snitch, thanks to Seneca, and the team was victorious by less than ten points. 

Seneca and the rest of the team were happy that they had won at least, but they were severely underwhelmed with each other’s skills and playing strategy. They would definitely need some work before the next game. 

Following the feast that evening, Seneca made his way back to Ravenclaw tower, only to find the other students already preparing for a victory party. He sighed, and trudged up the stairs, before taking a shower and changing into a more comfortable outfit. 

After nearly an hour of sitting alone in his dorm, Seneca made his way back out to the common room, as the level of noise had increased to near-intolerable levels. 

The second he opened the door, what was before a slightly muffled thrum of conversation and music washed over him with incredible force. The common room was full to bursting, and Seneca quickly realized that there were students from every house, even Slytherins. Sirius and James were nowhere to be seen, but Seneca could very clearly hear their laughter from somewhere near the opposite end of the lower floor. 

Almost all of the sofas on the balconies were occupied, and Seneca had to skirt around several different couples as he made his way towards the stairs. On his way, he realized one of the couples he had passed was Marlene and Dorcas, and another was Frank and Alice. All four of them seemed to be far too engrossed in their counterparts to even realize who he was, which he was thankful for. 

After pushing through the crowded main floor, he finally arrived at the drink table, where he spotted the four ‘Marauders’. 

Remus was sitting on one of the nearby armchairs, with Sirius passed out on his lap. The taller boy was bright red, and looked incredibly nervous. As soon as Seneca realized why, he stifled a laugh, and Remus glowered at him. James was busy trying to talk to Lily, who was staring back blankly at him, swirling a drink in her hand. Seneca flashed her a sympathetic look, and she looked pointedly at James. 

Getting the memo, Seneca walked up, 

“Oi, James, are you feeling alright?”

James turned to face him, and Seneca was taken aback at just how tipsy he looked.

‘M fine,” he slurred.

“No, you’re not. And you’re only fourteen. You shouldn’t be drinking so much, let’s go sit down,”

Lily mouthed, “Thank you,” at him, and Seneca smiled back as he dragged James through the party to a spare seat on one of the armchairs by Remus and Sirius. It was at that point that Seneca spotted Peter, who was sitting on the floor, staring up at the ceiling in a daze. 

“Peter?” Seneca asked slowly.

The boy mumbled something back, and slowly got up, before walking over to the food table. Seneca sighed, and deposited James in the empty chair, “Stay here, okay?”

“Yes, sir,” James said, laughing. 

Seneca groaned, and walked back over to Lily, 

“What the bloody hell is going on? I stay in my room for an hour and everyone’s sodding drunk.”

She giggled, “I know, I’ve only been drinking non-spiked drinks, and I’ve had to bear witness to everyone slowly losing their marbles.”

Seneca pointed up to the collection of occupied sofas on the balconies; “Guess who’s up there?”

Lily clapped a hand over her mouth, “ _Who_?” she asked, in surprise. 

“Marlene and Dorcas, _and_ Frank and Alice!”

“I get that it’s Frank and Alice, but _Marlene and Dorcas_ only started dating two weeks ago,” Lily exclaimed. 

Seneca smiled, “We all know they were together long before that.”

“To be honest, yeah,” Lily said, “I’m gonna go over to talk with Emmeline and Mary, wanna come?” 

Seneca nodded, “I haven’t seen them yet, where are they?”

“I think over by the reading nook with the statue,” she said, beckoning for him to follow her. 

They had to shove through several dozen people to get to the opposite side of the common room, and Seneca realized that whatever shitty British wizard-pop music was playing must’ve been spelled to have equal volume in the entire common room, as the omnipresent noise stayed consistent throughout. When they finally entered the arched reading nook, they found Mary and Emmeline asleep in each other’s arms on one of the benches, and Lily smiled, before tugging Seneca’s arm, “Let’s leave them be.”

“I have no idea how they can sleep in here,” Seneca said, in disbelief. 

“Mary sleeps through _everything_ in our dorm,” Lily smirked, “I swear, she gets _at least_ ten bloody hours of sleep a night.”

Seneca laughed, and the two walked back over to the drink table. 

The hours slowly ticked by, and after several dazed conversations with his tipsy friends, and Lily, Seneca noticed that the party had significantly dwindled. 

Marlene and Dorcas appeared at the base of the steps, Dorcas retying her braids into a loose bun, and Marlene straightening her robes and tie. Lily and Seneca gave them a knowing look, and the two girls reddened, instinctively gripping each other’s arms. 

Emmeline and Mary had long since woken up, and seeing the state of the Marauders, Seneca asked, “Can you guys see them back to the dorms? Wouldn’t want them to _accidentally_ wander into some office or restricted area.”

“Of course,” Marlene said, grinning, before shouting, “ _OI, JAMIE, GET YOUR ASS UP_.”

Seneca stepped back, and then smiled, before helping Remus get Sirius off his lap. The boy’s grey eyes slowly blinked open, and realized where he was. 

He immediately sprung up, smiled cautiously at Remus, and stumbled over to James, who seemed to barely be able to stand himself. Peter was already waiting by the door, slowly swaying back and forth, with several muffins and an apple in his arms. 

James said something, but it was drowned out by the clock chiming for the ten minute late-curfew warning. 

At that, the music immediately stopped, and the six or seven dozen students still left in the room began to gather up their things and leave. As soon as he waved goodbye to his friends, and Emmeline, who was going to bed, Seneca spotted a familiar head of wavy black hair. 

“Regulus?”

The boy looked up at him, and smiled, his cheeks rosy, and eyes glazed over, “Hiiiii….” he said, drawing out the world, “Hi, Seneca. ‘S a weird name.”

“You’re one to talk _Regulus_ ,” Seneca said, with a tone of good-natured sarcasm, “What are you doing here?”

“I came to the party. Duh.”

“I didn’t know you were one for parties.”

“Barty made me come,” the boy muttered, gesturing wildly at an empty chair.

Seneca looked back at him, concerned, “Let’s get you back to your dorm, okay? You don’t seem well.”

“Okay, _Seneca_ ,” he said with a giggle.

Seneca almost tripped over his own feet, he had never heard Regulus _giggle,_ and let alone laugh. 

The boy tried to stand up and fell back down, so Seneca hoisted him up by the shoulders, “Come on.”

Regulus laughed again, and leaned against Seneca, who stumbled sideways at the unexpected weight, “Oh, okay. We’re doing this I guess.”

“...yeah,” Regulus said with a grin, before making a paddling motion with his arm, “Let’s go.”

Seneca raised his eyebrows, he had no idea the boy would ever let himself get _this_ drunk, he had always seemed far too uptight to do anything other than sit by himself, all prim and proper. 

The two slowly made their way to the staircase, and when Regulus realized there was no chance of getting down the spiral staircase while supporting the other boy, he double-tapped the brighter stone by the top of the stairs. There was a grinding noise, and the steps began to move, rotating down, while new steps appeared at the top. 

Regulus stared with his mouth hanging open, “This is so cool.”

“It only works for Ravenclaws and staff members,” Seneca said with a smile, “It’s pretty similar to muggle escalators.”

Regulus looked at him in confusion. 

“Imagine the way the new steps appear at the top, and the one you’re on moves, except with metal steps and a looped conveyor belt that pulls them.”

“I don’t get it.”

“Then I’ll have to show you one day,” Seneca said with a laugh, completely missing the blush that rose on Regulus’ cheeks at the mention of a possible outing together. 

When they reached the bottom, Seneca asked, “Alright, how do we get to the Slytherin dorms.”

“Dungeons,” Regulus mumbled pointing in an obscure direction.

Seneca pretended to agree, and instead began to walk in the direction he knew the dungeons were.

After a brisk walk, Seneca spotted a group of older Slytherins, and followed them to a large archway that he had never seen before.

“Okay, this is as far as I’ll go. Don’t want to get hexed by some snake,” he said. 

Regulus smiled sadly at him, “Not all of us are like that.”

“I know,” Seneca said, surprised at the sadness in his voice, as well as the seemingly coherent way he spoke, considering just how much alcohol was pumping through his system.

Regulus looked back up at him “You’re… quite beautiful, you know?”

Seneca looked at him in mild shock, “Thank you, you are too.”

The boy flushed, “I wish… I just want… I wish it could be different,” he said, tears pooling in his eyes. 

Seneca took Regulus into a tight embrace, “It’s okay,” he said, despite not having a clue what Regulus was talking about. 

Then, the boy murmured into his chest, “I really like you.”

Seneca felt his heart stop, and he felt his cheeks burn. What the fuck was happening? It was like the two of them were just falling apart that evening. 

“I… you’re drunk. Don’t say anything you don’t mean,” he said quickly, although it broke his heart to say it. 

“I do mean it though,” Regulus exclaimed, tears starting to roll down his cheeks. 

Seneca wiped his face off with the sleeve of his robe, “If… If you really mean that, come tell me tomorrow. If you meant it.”

Regulus nodded sadly, and quickly hugged Seneca again, before running off into the dorm. 

Seneca just stood there for a second, still in shock, and then spun on his heel and ran back up to Ravenclaw tower. He heard the clock chime with the curfew deadline, and he sped up, luckily making it back to the common room before he was caught. 

That night, he fell into an unusually deep sleep, and awoke with still _very_ fresh memories of the evening before. 

When he walked into the Great Hall, he repeatedly tried to make eye contact with Regulus, but the boy purposefully ignored him. Seneca sighed, he wasn’t surprised, but he was still disappointed. Whatever had happened the night before was certainly confusing, but the saying was that all alcohol does is melt away your inhibitions, so Regulus must’ve meant what he said, deep down. 

“Is everything okay?” Lily asked. 

She and Seneca seemed to be the only people that were actually functioning that morning. James and Marlene were still asleep, and Mary and Emmeline were trying _very_ hard to cover up their hangovers, although their efforts were in vain. Sirius and Remus still looked to be half-asleep, and Peter was staring intently at a piece of toast on his plate. 

“‘M fine,” Seneca muttered, poking at his food with a fork. 

“If you say so,” she said, flipping her hair behind her shoulder as she went back to her meal, with a book in one hand. 

Seneca spent the rest of the day, and really the rest of the week thinking about that night. Regulus continuously avoided him, and by Mid-March, Seneca had completely given up trying to talk to the boy about it, 

Gryffindor had won their game against Slytherin, and Seneca only attended the victory party on the assurance that no Slytherins would dare to show their face. 

His classes and clubs were just as consistent as they had been; nothing was any more or less difficult than usual. McGonagall had started to ramp up the intensity of the transfiguration lessons, but they weren’t that much harder than before. 

Seneca had continued to excel with ward-casting and tampering in Charms, and received several nasty looks from sixth and seventh-years that hadn’t even been able to cast a simple _Salvio Hexia_ shield. 

It was during the last lesson before the Spring Hols when Seneca successfully broke a _Protego Totalum_ charm for the first time, much to Professor Flitwick’s chagrin. His clubmates congratulated him several times, to Seneca’s great embarrassment, although some were clearly less genuine than others. 

When the first day of the Holidays came around, a particularly nasty rainstorm was battering Hogwarts. 

As the carriages shuddered down the hillside, there were multiple times it felt, at least to Seneca, like they were on the verge of pitching over the edge of the cliff. 

Almost immediately after Seneca settled into a compartment with the Marauders, the train took off with a jolting start. 

As soon as James and Peter left to get sweets from the cart, Seneca shut the door and turned to face Sirius and Remus. 

“What…” Remus asked, confused. 

Seneca smirked, “I’m not going to push you guys into anything, but rest assured, your, how should I put it, _feelings_ , for each other are _very clearly_ mutual. So please, for the love of god, snog already. The uncomfortable dynamic is getting annoying.”

Sirius gaped. 

“How- What? How did you?” Remus started. 

“Because I’m ‘ _so observant_ ’ as you guys put it,” Seneca said, rolling his eyes.

“You heard that?” Remus asked, incredulously. 

“ _How do you remember that?_ It was three months ago?” Sirius exclaimed. 

“I don’t know, I guess I can easily remember stuff. But that’s not the point. You two really need to get your shit together, because if James comes to ask _me_ for _advice_ one more time, I will lose my shit.”

By that point, the two were on the verge of turning a violent shade of burgundy, and Remus stammered, “I still don’t know what you’re trying to imply.”

Seneca sighed, “I’m usually not one to force people to reveal things about themselves, but seeing as it’s something we share, and it’s clearly causing you guys pain, you really need to get past it.”

“ _You’re gay_?” Remus exclaimed.

“Well, bi I think. I don’t really know though.”

“What’s bi?” Sirius questioned. 

“Bisexual. ‘Means you can be attracted to anyone, not exclusively straight or gay,” Remus explained quickly.   
Seneca realized what they were doing, “Stop changing the topic. You two obviously like each other, so now that that’s all out in the open,” he said, glowering at both of them, “Are all of the silent treatments and awkward moments going to end?”

“Can’t say anything about the awkward moments,” Sirius muttered. 

“Just don’t fight. Okay?” Seneca said. 

“Sure,” Remus said, right as James and Peter reentered, arms laden with dozens of different sweets. 

“Everything okay?” he asked, seeing Remus and Sirius’ complexions. 

“I just _helped_ them realize something,” Seneca said, flatly.

“Oh, that they want to shag each other, right?” James said casually. 

Remus blanched, Sirius startled, and Peter dropped half of his belongings. 

“Sorry about that,” James said sheepishly, “can’t really read the room, can I.”

“ _NO_ ,” Remus said, pointedly. 

“But they’re both blokes,” Peter murmured. 

“And is there a problem with that?” James snapped. 

Peter meekly shook his head, and got to picking up the things he had dropped. 

Uncomfortable with the silence that had descended over the compartment, James spoke up, “Alright, who wants to play a game of exploding snap?”

By the time the train pulled into the station, everything was seemingly back to normal, although Sirius and Remus were still being unusually careful around each other. After saying goodbye to his friends, Seneca met up with Nadia and Fazia on the platform, the latter of which who was staying over for the Spring Hols, while they waited for Irene and Nick. 

Seneca’s Mum arrived almost fifteen minutes late, her hair billowing around her. 

“So sorry, I had a meeting late last night, and I completely slept through my alarm, my whole schedule was thrown off” Irene exclaimed, rushing towards them. 

“S’okay,” Seneca and Nadia said in unison, while Fazia said “No problem, Mrs. Locklear.”

Irene smiled down at her, “It’s so nice to finally meet you, dear. And you can call me Auntie Irene, if you’d like.”

“Thank you, Auntie Irene,” Fazia responded, happily.

Irene grinned, and the three students promptly followed her through the barrier and to the Taxi she already had waiting for them. 

Spring break slowly dragged by, and Irene and Nick ended up having to leave for four nights to a conference in New York, so Seneca had to supervise Fazia and Nadia for over 72 hours, which was not his idea of a good time. He had to cook almost every meal, and they weren’t necessarily bad, but he used so many different spells to help that much of the flavor had leached out of the dishes. 

The two girls popped in and out of the house constantly, and he struggled to monitor where they were going, while also keeping all of the magical plants and animals in the house placated. At this point, he wouldn’t be surprised if Maya was half kneazle, considering how he could never find her unless she wanted to be found, and how he could’ve sworn she was reading in the library one day. 

On the last day his parents were away, Seneca was on the verge of breaking, and wondered how his Mom and Dad managed the entire house, with both of them having full-time careers. 

Seneca almost collapsed out of joy when they finally arrived home, near-weeping at their feet. 

“Someone’s happy,” Nick said, smirking.

“You have no idea,” Nadia said, laughing from the kitchen table, while Irene and Fazia looked on with smiles. 

Towards the end of the second week, James owled Seneca, asking if the boy could come over to his house for a bit, and Seneca couldn’t have been more pleased. 

The second Seneca flooed into the Potter’s living room, he saw three animals scattered about the room; a large stag was standing directly in front of him, a fluffy black dog sat on the sofa, and a fat brown rat was curled up on one of the armchairs. 

“What the fuck,” Seneca muttered under his breath.

“Not funny, James,” he shouted. 

The dog got up, and started to walk towards him, and Seneca sighed, before mustering up the power for a protective charm, “ _Protego Maxima_ ,” he said as he waved his wand, and a translucent blue shield appeared between him and the animals, bisecting the room. 

As soon as the ward was cast, to Seneca’s surprise, the animals shifted into James, Sirius, and Peter, and Remus appeared in the corner of the room, holding the invisibility cloak. 

“What the bloody hell is that,” Sirius exclaimed. 

Seneca blinked rapidly at him, “ _Why are you asking the questions here? Are you four animagi_?”

James smiled, “The three of us,” gesturing at him, Sirius, and Peter, “Not Rem. Because of, y’know.”  
“Yeah..” Seneca trailed off.

“Okay, he knows. Now what the fuck was that,” Remus exclaimed. 

“T’was a protection ward that I learned in charms club,” Seneca explained.

“How are you learning that already, it’s reserved only for advanced Seventh years,” Remus questioned, and Seneca shrugged in response. 

“Nerds, am I right,” James said. 

Sirius and Peter laughed along with him, much to Seneca and Remus’ ire. 

The rest of the get-together mostly revolved around the Marauders explaining how they had become animagi, and Seneca trying, and failing, to teach the four boys how to cast a _Protego Maxima_ charm, at Remus’ behest. 

Before too long, he had to leave, and said a quick goodbye, knowing that he would see them on the train in just a couple days. 

Sure enough, Seneca ended up sharing a compartment with the four, and the boys spent much of the time talking about the upcoming Quidditch championship game, which was yet again between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. They pointedly avoided discussing the Remus and Sirius situation, although Seneca gave them multiple looks to indicate that he had not forgotten their discussion on the train ride home. 

At the feast, Seneca was glad to see his friends again, and especially so after having to look after Nadia and Fazia the way he had over break. 

The Quidditch came approached just as fast as it had the year before, although this time, the team lacked the optimism they had had. Instead of coming in with a clear advantage, they had only barely qualified for the game, considering how narrowly they had beaten Hufflepuff, _and_ they hadn’t put in anywhere near the same number of training hours as Gryffindor. 

Seneca woke up at the crack of dawn, and warmed up with several quick flying laps around the school, along with the other Ravenclaw players. Ashley was trying very hard to make it seem like the stress wasn’t getting to her, but all she achieved was making herself look odd, and after treating the team to a particularly nasty ‘healthy’ breakfast, they all headed down to the locker rooms to change. 

By the time Seneca was ready, the game was starting in less than five minutes, so he stormed out onto the field, and met up with the rest of the team. Ashley was going over the game strategy, which was nothing too ambitious or risky. Seneca knew they wouldn’t win this way, but at least they wouldn’t go down in utter flames. 

As soon as Madame Hooch blew the whistle, Seneca sat down and waited the required time until he could join, as he was a seeker. 

Once it had passed, he kicked off into the air, and began to slowly patrol the stadium, looking for any sign of the snitch. Ravenclaw was already losing pretty badly, and the gap in points was growing by the minute. 

It must’ve been around the forty-five minute mark when Seneca spotted the snitch, and he took off. The Gryffindor seeker was new that year, and although they weren’t necessarily bad, they were no match for Seneca’s years of background experience and agility. 

He caught the snitch within the minute, and the game was over. Ravenclaw had lost by over eighty points, but just like Ashely had planned, the circumstances of their defeat were hardly embarrassing. 

The Gryffindor players congratulated him on his catch, and Seneca just nodded politely, before rushing back to the dorms and passing out in bed, sleeping all the way until breakfast the next day. 

The rest of April and May began to rapidly tick by, and more and more assignments were being assigned in his classes. Professor Flitwick was glad to be able to have him back for all of the charms club meetings, and even tried to get Seneca to help him teach the other students how to cast the Security Spell, and although Seneca agreed, he was mortified the entire time. Transfiguration lessons worked in much the same way, McGonagall intensified the material, and requested for him to tutor three third-years that were particularly struggling with the material.

Regulus continued to avoid him, and as the annoyance at that and stress of his school work built up to a near-breaking point, Seneca randomly asked James if he could help with one of the pranks. 

James seemed suspicious at first, but eventually agreed. When the boy excitedly described how they planned to give the entirety of Slytherin house an especially nasty case of the plague, Seneca realized how it may have been a less than intelligent idea to jump onto one of James’ pranks. 

Of course, James explained, it wouldn’t actually be the plague, it would simply cause purple, painless boils to erupt on their faces, and rats to scurry around the floors of the dorms. 

Peter had somehow gotten ahold of the password to the common room, likely from one of the Slytherins he was friends with. Seneca knew Peter had been a hat stall, and this just made it seem more and more likely that the other house he may have been placed in was Slytherin. 

When James led the four other boys into the Slytherin dorms during lunch, Seneca began to regret his choice even more, as they brushed whatever boil-causing powder James had purchased onto every pillow in the bedrooms. Remus planted the rat pheromones he had synthesized in various hidden locations across the common room, and when no one was looking, Seneca cleared the powder from Regulus’ pillow. 

The next day at breakfast, Seneca wasn’t that surprised to see several hundred Slytherins run into the hall screaming, some of them still even wearing their pajamas. Regulus followed slowly behind the group, looking surprised at the lack of boils on his own face. 

McGonagall, of course, somehow found out exactly who had done it, and called the five boys to her office after supper. 

She talked to them each independently, and when she called Seneca in, the boy wanted to die of embarrassment on the spot. 

“Now, I know I’m not your head of house, but I cannot believe what you have done,” she started. 

She went on and on about how disappointed she was, but did drop a comment about how cunning the five of them were, with a small smile. 

She gave Seneca a detention, his first one since second year, and the boy slowly trudged back to class. 

The week quickly went by, and on Saturday night, he found himself in the trophy room, scowling

as he mopped the floors. It wasn’t his fault that he was there anyways, and on top of that, it was just his luck that he was there with Regulus. He had tried to stifle his feelings for the boy, but it was nearly impossible. Every time he saw his face, his heart melted, and he just wanted to hug and protect him.

Halfway through mopping the floor, he bumped into Regulus. He looked up at Seneca and glared, but Seneca noticed a glimmer of something else through his gaze. 

His heartstrings tugged a bit, and he opened his mouth to say something, before deciding against it. 

Regulus looked at him weirdly, and turned back to dusting the trophies. 

Seneca blinked and tried to ignore whatever had just happened, but all he was able to think about was Regulus. 

Fifteen minutes later, Seneca bumped into Regulus again, half on purpose and half on accident. Regulus spun around to face him, and Seneca was taken aback at his furious expression. 

“Watch where you’re bloody going! You’re fucking intolerable”.

Seneca’s face broke out into a grin, happy that he was interacting with Regulus, no matter the negative nature of their situation. 

“ _Why are you smiling?_ ” Regulus questioned, with a note of disbelief in his voice. 

As Regulus took a step closer towards Seneca, he continued, “Just leave me alone. I don’t need your help. You’re nothing but a filthy blood traitor,” Regulus said, although his tone didn’t carry the hateful nature of his words. 

As Regulus took another step forward, his foot landed right into the spot Seneca had just mopped. He slipped and fell backwards, knocking Seneca over in the process. 

The two of them landed on the hard stone, and with a start, Seneca realized he was on top of Regulus. 

He quickly tried to get up, but only succeeded in pressing their bodies closer together. 

Looking over at Regulus, he saw the boy was bright red, and refusing to make eye contact.

Seneca pushed himself up on his arms, and looked down at Regulus. His short black locks were framing his face beautifully, making him look ethereal. 

Moving against his desires, Seneca tried to fully get up, but was interrupted. 

“Don’t,” Regulus said in a small voice. 

Seneca nearly gasped in surprise, and Regulus turned up to face him. 

Both boys were bright red, and as they continued to make eye contact, Seneca lowered himself down, closer towards Regulus. He brushed his lips up against the other boy’s own, and when Regulus didn’t turn away, he fully kissed him. 

Seneca’s heart felt like fireworks were going off, and he realized that he was oddly on the verge of tears. 

Focusing on the present moment, he realized that Regulus’ lips were surprisingly soft. He lowered himself all the way down, then slowly brought the two of them all the way up into a standing position. Still kissing Regulus, he pushed the shorter boy up against the wall, and ran his hand through the boy’s hair. Seneca bit Regulus’ lower lip, and the boy let out a small gasp. They both pulled back for a second, bright red, and not meeting each other’s gazes. Then they came back together. This time, Regulus pressed his lips into Seneca’s, and it was the best thing Seneca had ever felt. They ever so slowly slid down the wall, not caring that their robes were dragging through the soapy water.

After they kissed once more, both boys slowly got up, and Seneca performed a quick drying spell on their water-soaked clothes. Regulus was blushing furiously, and Seneca felt as light as air. 

Not even ten minutes later, Filch reentered the trophy room, and glared at them both, before deeming their work ‘satisfactory enough’. As the two boys went their separate ways, Seneca smirked and whispered to Regulus, “Nice lips, Reggie,” at which the other boy blushed even more. 

When he reentered the Ravenclaw common room, he was met by Emmeline on one of the couches. 

“What happened?” She asked, sounding very confused.

“What do you mean?”

“You look happier than I’ve ever seen you. Are you sure you were at detention?”

Seneca smiled even more, “I was. Nothing much happened”.

He plopped down on the couch next to her, and pulled a random book from the wall, feigning being engrossed in reading. In reality he couldn't stop thinking about the kiss. Or rather kisses, he thought, and his heart soared even more. 

He really wanted to tell someone, but the year was already almost over, and he couldn’t think of anyone to talk to. The only people that knew he was interested in boys were Remus and Sirius, and since the two were a package deal, he couldn't risk telling either, as Sirius would probably go completely apeshit at him. 

The last couple weeks sped by, and Seneca did see Regulus several times, but he didn’t want to pressure the boy into doing anything, although it did pain him to not even discuss it. 

McGonagall and Flitwick both gave him textbooks on spells for their respective instructioning, and Seneca was quite pleased, his parents weren’t exactly well-versed in either subject, and it wasn’t like he could just call his Grandma over to help him learn about wards. 

The last day of school sprung on them near out of nowhere, and Sirius looked absolutely miserable the entire train ride home. It was only when Seneca learned that it was because he had to return to his family that he felt really bad for the boy, and quietly discussed with James the possibility of the two of them having Sirius over for ‘sleepovers’ for the vast majority of the Holidays, so that he could be away from home as much as possible. 

When the train rolled into the station, Sirius paled even more than usual, and Seneca gathered the boy’s things for him, seeing as he was so numb her could barely grab anything. 

Sirius slowly made his way over to his parents, and gave a small wave, before Walburga and Orion dragged him and Regulus through the barrier. 

“Regulus,” Seneca thought, with a feeling of sadness growing in his heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End Notes  
> I was so busy today, I don’t know how I was able to finish this on time. Sorry if the writing is ick I feel like I only do random scenes with gross dialogue and then stitch it together with shitty filler but maybe that’s just me.
> 
> Also I wrote the kiss scene like two weeks ago so if it feels weird in any way that’s probably why. I wouldn’t be surprised if this chapter reads really choppily, considering that it’s 3am right now, but I’ll fix it tomorrow if it is. 
> 
> \- Hoping to finish fourth year tomorrow and post part one of fifth year as well
> 
> Also, I know that's not the actual definition of bisexuality, but I doubt a couple teenagers in the 1970's would know much about it.   
> n  
> Thanks for reading, have a nice day!  
> As always, corrections and suggestions are welcome!


	12. Fourth Year, Summer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summer of fourth year from Lily’s POV.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may keep doing summers from Lily’s POV unless there’s something else to write about, as I need to chart her and Snape’s relationship over time.  
> This one is a bit short, but I’m really in a writing type of mood tonight so I’m going to put out Year 5 as one chapter instead of two. I finished my outline of the rest of this fic, and the only stuff that actually takes time is writing filler in between the scenes and events that I already decided.  
> Hoping to have year 6 done before Tuesday.

Lily Evans’ summer had been incredibly boring so far. It was only two weeks into July, and she was already beyond ready to return to school. 

Her only friend that she could normally see on a regular basis, Severus, was away for vacation in Albania, and wouldn’t be returning until the last week of the Summer Holidays. 

And on top of that, her sister, Petunia, was being especially horrible at every chance she could get. Lily must’ve been called a ‘freak’ at least three times a day since she came home from Hogwarts. 

Cai and Anne, her parents, were barely even aware of what was happening between their daughters, they were far too concerned with what was happening in the UK as a whole. 

Lily’s father had been fired in early July, and her Mother was only still employed because she was the sole person in Cokeworth qualified to teach primary school language arts. 

Almost every day, the people on TV would babble on and on about inflation and recessions, so Lily spent much of the time in the garden, away from her horrid sister and increasingly stressed parents. 

One day, halfway through August, someone randomly appeared on her doorstep. 

“Lily, dear, a friend is here to see you,” Anne called up the steps, and Lily got up from the watercolor painting she was working on as fast as she could, nearly knocking over a cup on her desk as she did so. 

She ran down the creaky old steps, hoping that it was Severus, but was surprised to see Seneca. 

Her face must’ve betrayed her disappointment, because the boy gave an uncomfortable smile, and pursed his lips, before saying, “Hi, Lily.”

“Hello,” she responded, slowly, confused. 

Anne clapped her hands together, and headed back to the office, after saying, “All right, well you two have fun now, I have some work to do.”

“Why- what happened?” Lily asked. 

Seneca’s brow furrowed, “You haven’t been responding to any of our letters,” he said, “We were starting to get worried.”

“Who’s we? And I haven’t gotten any letters,” she said, even more confused. 

“Me, Emmeline, Remus, Mary, Marlene, and Dorcas; we’ve all been sending you letters. And are you sure you didn’t get any? Because we would’ve gotten a notice if they weren’t delivered.”

“No, I haven’t gotten anything actually.”

“No letters? All summer?” he asked, incredulously. 

“Nope,” she said, growing concerned. What if she had missed an important Hogwarts letter?

“Wait, I have an idea,” Seneca said, “ _Accio Lily’s letters,_ ” he said, casting a summoning charm. 

“Are you sure that’ll work?” she asked. 

“I dunno, it might,” he said, but was cut off by a shriek emanating from Petunia’s room, and a torrent of letters flying down the stairs. 

“Bloody hell,” Lily muttered, before thundering up the stairs. 

“ _Petunia, you arse. Did you have my letters_?” she screamed, her hair flying wildly behind her. 

Petunia slammed her door, and Lily could hear her muffled voice say, “You don’t need to read letters from your _freak_ friends.”

Lily turned away, and in her fury, she missed Petunia murmur in a small voice, “You could spend time with me instead.”

Lily ran back downstairs, “That little shit had all of them.”

“Evidently,” Seneca said, a small smile growing on his face, as he started to pick up the several dozen papers that covered the floor of the foyer. 

“Want to come out into the garden to sort through them with me?” she asked, trying to make up for the way she had reacted to his arrival. 

He nodded, and finished gathering up the letters, before handing a stack to her. 

The two wandered out into the Evans’ Backyard, and sat on a small bench by the weeping willow tree, overlooking the pond. 

“Nice yard,” Seneca said. 

Lily looked up at him, confused at the word, “What’s a yard?”

Seneca blinked, and responded, “Oh, I forgot, it’s the American word for like the garden-area or land around your house. I dunno why I’m still using it.”

Lily smiled, and said, “Accents take a while to fade. Anyways, let's make two piles, one of important stuff, and one of notes from friends.”

Seneca nodded, and as the two sorted through letters, they started talking about relationships. 

“Dorcas and Marlene are so cute together,” Lily exclaimed. 

“They really are,” Seneca said, “And so are Emmeline and Mary. They obviously have a thing for each other.”

“I totally agree, I’ve seen it too. Have you noticed any other possible couples,” she said, probing the boy.

“Not really,” he said, appearing to grow uncomfortable, as if he had something he wanted to say, but couldn't. 

Lily decided that she wanted to see if he had made the same conclusion as herself, “What about Remus and Sirius? They’re cute together, and I think they have something between them.”

Seneca reddened, “Maybe, but we should leave that to them.”

“Do you know something I don’t?” Lily asked, setting down the particularly bulky letter she had just been looking over. 

“No..” he said, slowly. 

She looked at him curiously, before continuing, “Anyways, do you fancy anyone?”

He turned nearly purple at the question, and choked, “ _No._ ”

“Are you sure,” she smirked. 

“Do you?” he asked. 

“I’ll say mine if you say yours,” she stated. 

“Fine. You go first.”

She held up both hands, in mock defeat, and quickly said, “I quite fancy Remus.”

Seneca clapped his hand over his mouth, “I don’t think he would be interested in you,” he said, quickly. 

“Because he fancies Sirius,” Lily stated, nonchalantly. 

“I didn’t say that.”

“Oh, come on, you obviously know something.”

Seneca turned away, and began to pick up the pace of sorting his stack of letters. 

She continued, “Anyways, what about you? You didn’t say anything.”

Seneca sighed, and turned back to face her, “You can’t tell anyone? Okay?”

She nodded slowly, befuddled at his urgent tone.

“Regulus likes me. And I think I like him too.”

Lily gaped, “ _Regulus? Regulus Black?_ ”

“Sh, not so loud,” Seneca exclaimed, before adding, “and yes, him.”

She started, “Well, I-, have you ever interacted? How do you know?”

“He called me attractive once, and then he kissed me later on,” Seneca said, before furrowing his brow and adding, “Well, technically, I kissed him, but he encouraged it.”

Lily sat there, staring at him. 

“How… how do you keep all of this stuff secret.. I had no idea.”

“I guess I’m just good at hiding stuff,” Seneca said with a smile. 

The rest of their discussion about romances dragged on until they were done sorting the letters, with a small pile being from Hogwarts, another being from the Ministry, and by far the largest pile being a collection of dozens of notes from Lily’s friends. 

Seneca looked down at his watch, and seeing what time it was, he said, “I had best be going soon.”

“You can’t stay?”

He shook his head, “The watch is kind of like a timed portkey. At 5pm sharp, it’ll whisk me home.”

Lily looked at the watch, bewildered, “Magic is so cool. I wish I had grown up with it.”

Seneca smiled, and then gave a small frown, “Before I leave, there’s one thing I want to ask you.”

“What?”

“Well… I don’t really know how else to put this… why are you friends with Severus. I mean, he’s been so horrible to us, and he’s said some really mean things.”

Lily grew angry at that, “He’s not horrible. Is James just telling you these things?”

“No-”

“Well, to be honest, I don’t really care. None of you have met the real Severus,” she said, indignantly. 

“If you say so,” he said, shaking his head. 

The two made their way back inside, and after a quick goodbye between Lily, Anne, and Seneca, the boy disappeared on the spot, much to Anne’s surprise. 

“Well, that was something,” the older woman laughed. 

“Yeah,” Lily said with a weak smile, “Mum, there’s something I need to tell you…” 

She proceeded to explain what Petunia had done, and when she showed Anne the collection of important letters she had received from both the Ministry and Hogwarts, a nasty look grew on the woman's face, and she stomped up the stairs. 

Lily heard a cacophony of screaming from her sister’s room, and feeling pleased for the moment, she sat down to start reading her letters. 

Two weeks later, Severus arrived back in Cokeworth. School started in just three days, and Lily was already preparing, gathering the things and making a list for Diagon Alley. 

The boy appeared in her garden one day, and smiled, walking up to her. 

“Hi Lils,” he said. 

“Hey Severus,” she said, lightheartedly, “How was your trip?”

His face darkened, “it was horrid.”  
“Oh no. What happened?” she asked.   
“It was a whole political thing. Apparently some guy that Mum likes very much is gathering a following there, and she wanted to be one of the first to mark herself as one of his followers.”   
“What about your dad?”

“Haven’t seen him since April,” the boy said flatly, his greasy hair shifting in the light breeze. 

She frowned at him. The boy really did have it rough. 

“Who is this guy? In Albania, I mean,” Lily asked. 

Severus gave a small smile, “He’s really powerful in the dark arts. And he has some pretty cool views.”

“Like what?”

He reddened, and quickly said, “Well, I don’t really understand them. I’m not one to explain.”

“Well, okay then,” she said, cautiously. 

“What about your Summer?”

“It was mostly pretty boring. I did see Seneca once though, a couple weeks ago.”

“That filthy Muggle lover? You do know that he’s a blood traitor?”

Lily stiffened, “Severus, I’m a muggleborn. What does that mean you think about me?’

He reddened, “You’re different. You’re not like the rest of _them_.”

“What do you mean, ‘ _them_ ’,” she asked, growing more and more annoyed by the moment. 

“Nothing,” he said quickly, and promptly changed the conversation to school. 

Lily tried to act normally, and contribute to the conversation, but his little comments from earlier were nagging at the back of her brain, overwhelming her thought process. 

When he eventually left, Lily breathed a sigh of relief, and stumbled back into her room. She slowly resumed packing, and before she knew it, she was waiting for Anne to arrive home from the grocer's, so that the two could make their way to Kings Cross, while Cai went job searching in Watford. 

Feeling eyes on the back of her neck, Lily turned around. 

Petunia glared at her from behind the bannister, and Lily stuck out her tongue back, only stopping when she heard the signature slam of the boot door on her Mom's sedan. 

Lily smiled menacingly, and gathered up her things. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Years!
> 
> I already started on year five, it should definitely be done tomorrow night.  
> Thanks for reading, have a nice day!


	13. Fifth Year, Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> September to June of fifth year, from Seneca’s POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took wayyyyy longer than I thought it would, and I’m probably going to have to split fifth year into at least three parts.  
> Also FYI this starts a couple days before the first day of school. 
> 
> \+ I’m eventually going to try out switching POVs, so when it switches, i’ll add a ‘<><><><><>’  
> \+ I realized I made a continuity error with Seneca’s dad, so to clarify, he is not a muggleborn. I’ll be editing that out soon.  
> \+ I’m going to start posting updates about my fanfic and also teaser(?) chapters/scenes on my tumblr so follow if you want @/cedricluvie  
> \+ ALSO abt tumblr, I made some art of a map of MACUSA that will be mentioned and talked abt in this fic a bit, so you can access that here; https://cedricluvie.tumblr.com/post/639351004526198784
> 
> One last thing, I added Seraphina Picquery as Seneca’s grandmother because I love her character so much.  
> Anyways thanks for reading :)

**TW:**

**\- Depiction/Discussion of Self Harm - Starting at ‘but fell short when he saw Seneca’s expression’ and ending at ‘he looked at the clock, and realizing the time’**

**\- Referenced Abuse**

**\- Scars/Wounds**

Seneca had actually had a lot of fun over the summer, although that one day he had gone to see Lily was quite awkward. It was painfully obvious that she had expected someone else, and Seneca felt simultaneously guilty for not being said person, but also annoyed that she wasn’t happy to see him. 

He had hung out with James, Peter, and Remus quite frequently, although none of them had received any letters from Sirius. James’ parents were starting to grow increasingly worried, and were pushing for an inquiry into the Black family’s treatment of their children, even though James had warned them multiple times that it would only end badly. 

His grandparents on his Mom’s side had arrived in England a week before school started, apparently they had arrived early for the International Confederation Conference in October, as Seneca’s grandmother was the American representative to the Confederation, and had been so for nearly three decades. 

Since she had been the MACUSA president for much of the 1920s, in addition to having a mostly fondly-remembered rule, she carried the necessary caliber to hold such a position for so long. 

His grandfather was significantly lesser known, but he had briefly served as the MACUSA parliament representative for Magical Albany, so he wasn’t without his own accomplishments. 

Somehow, Seraphina, Seneca’s grandmother still appeared exactly as she did in her presidential portraits, with the only noticeable differences being some small wrinkles and now pure-white hair. 

She and Seneca’s grandfather had appeared in the Locklear’s fireplace with a green plume of smoke, and immediately settled into one of the guest suite’s upstairs, after a brief hello. 

Much of the following week was spent travelling around London, visiting seemingly chosen-at-random Magical sites and stores, and as Seneca had already seen most of them, he wouldn’t be able to stand another moment of shopping. 

On Friday, a letter from Hogwarts arrived, informing Seneca of his status as a Prefect; “ _It is with great pleasure that I bestow the Privilege of being a Hogwarts Prefect on Seneca Locklear-_ ” it went on to describe all the rules and privileges of Prefect status, and finished with Professor Flitwick’s signature; “ _Sincerely, Filius Flitwick_ ”.

His parents and grandparents were incredibly proud of him, and Nadia wouldn’t stop teasing him; “Looks like we got a little teacher’s pet in the family, hope you don’t give me detention,” she laughed. 

He rolled his eyes, “Maybe I will.”

She gave an exaggerated gasp, and sarcastically clutched her chest, “You wouldn’t dare.”

It was only a couple of days later when they were heading off to school at Kings Cross, Seneca waving goodbye to his grandparents and parents as they disappeared through the barrier. 

After Nadia ran off to join Fazia, who was already in a compartment, he ran into Lily on the platform. She had also been made a Prefect, and when James, Peter, and Remus arrived, Seneca learnt that Remus had as well. 

Lily was sticking unnaturally close to them, not avoiding James as much as usual, which was odd. To be honest, Seneca and the other two boys were too busy to comment on it; they were scanning the platform repeatedly for Sirius and Regulus. 

When the clock hit the five minute warning, the four gave up and made their way into an empty compartment, not wanting to risk missing the train. 

Seneca realized at the last minute that Lily was trailing behind them, and he turned around,  
“Want to sit with us?”, he asked. 

“Yes, actually,” she responded, quickly glancing over her shoulder. 

Seneca raised his eyebrow, and was about to ask something, when he was cut off by James, “Oi, Evans, finally you’re realizing my charm!”

She glared at him, and Seneca heard Peter quietly say, “Give it a rest, James.”

James then playfully punched the smaller boy on the shoulder, and busied himself by staring out the window at the barrier. 

It must’ve only been a moment before the train left, when Sirius and Regulus emerged through the barrier, with both of their parents absent from the platform. 

James banged on the window, and Sirius glanced up at him, leaving Regulus behind without a second thought. The younger brother glared at Sirius with disgust, and quickly made his way to the Slytherin car, towards the rear of the train. 

Almost immediately after James sprung up from his seat, Sirius slid open the compartment door.

“Prongsie!” Sirius shouted, and collided with the much taller boy, who was busy shouting something about, “Arsehole parents that can’t make a deadline.”

Seneca didn’t miss the wince Sirius made when James squeezed him tight, but he filed it away for later, assuming that James and Remus would take care of him, as they always did. 

“Hey, Siri,” Remus said, quietly joining the hug. 

Peter and Seneca looked on in relative awkwardness, before James said, with a muffled voice, “Oi, you two, get in here”.

Lily watched the whole exchange in mild interest, moving closer to Seneca as Sirius sat down on the same bench as the two of them. 

It was right at that moment that Severus slammed the door open, making a loud banging noise when it was fully ajar. 

His expression morphed from one of pure hate, to one of utter betrayal and fury when he saw Lily sitting with them. 

“ _Lily_ , I - I’ve been looking for you. Why are you sitting with,” he gestured at the other occupants of the compartment, “ _these_ people.”

Lily glared at him, “Severus, be nice. You’re not exactly advocating well for yourself. And I thought I was ‘ _one of them_ ’. Is that not what you said?”

“You know that’s not what I meant…” he trailed off. 

“Oi, Snivellus, beat it,” James bellowed. 

Lily spun around and spat, “I didn’t ask for your opinion, _Potter_.”

Looking taken aback, James started, “I was just trying to help,”

“Well you didn’t,” Lily stated, flatly. 

Sirius, who had been busy looking as if he wanted to bludgeon Severus with a particularly large hammer, spoke up. 

“Snivelly, you had better get out of the compartment right now. You’re not needed as my _dear mother’s_ informant anymore. Get out on your own, or I can help you,” he said, with a malicious grin. 

Lily stood up, “It seems all of you are just as ignorant and rude,” she snatched up her trunk and her owl’s cage, “Severus, let’s go.”

The greasy-haired boy gave the other five a snake-like grin, and proudly marched out of the cabin. 

James and Sirius looked on in a look of rage, and before Seneca or Remus could do anything, they shot off a volley of hexes and jinxes as Severus. 

Lily let out a cry, and Severus thumped to the floor as bats flew out of his nose. 

Sirius latched the door closed, and laughed, “Seems like that wanker had a shit ton of bogeys.”

James smiled, although it melted away when he heard Lily scream through the glass, “What the _shite_ is wrong with you arses!”

The rest of the train ride went along relatively quietly, and especially so after James and Sirius fell asleep, most likely because of the amount of sugary sweets they had consumed from the snack cart. 

Seeing an opportunity, Seneca whispered a quick goodbye to Remus and Peter, and then crept out of the compartment. 

He then made his way down the corridor, towards the Slytherin car, ducking into empty compartments several times, in order to avoid the older Slytherins that patrolled the halls. 

He had forgotten just how large the expansion charms made the train, and it must’ve been at least six or seven minutes before he made his way to the Slytherin compartment. He peeked through the glass, and seeing as Regulus’ back was turned, he used his wand to perform a weak levitating charm on the boy’s book, which was sitting on the armrest next to him. 

Seneca noted how put together he looked; how his dark hair accentuated his aristocratic brows and cheekbones quite well, and how the color pattern of his clothes brought life to his eyes. 

He shook his head, banishing away those thoughts, and waved the book in front of Regulus’ face. The boy glanced up, and seeing his prized literature floating in midair, he reached out for it, only for Seneca to yank it away, floating it through the door, which he had already opened. 

A look of anger growing on his face, Regulus stormed out of the car, likely wondering who was tormenting him, as the other Slytherins looked up in distaste, annoyed at being disturbed from whatever they were discussing. 

The second he emerged into the corridor, Seneca disappeared into an empty compartment, levitating the book behind him. Evidently not having seen him, Seneca followed behind him, still reaching for the book. Seneca then closed the door, and a look of shock and surprise grew on Regulus’ face. 

“ _You…_ ” he sputtered, as his skin grew even more pale than usual. 

Seneca gave a sarcastic smile, and said, “I’m assuming you mean ‘Seneca’ by that. Anyways, we need to talk.”

“What about?” he asked, his voice wavering. 

“Don’t fucking bullshit me, I’m not an idiot.”

Regulus stared back, daring him to say something. 

“The bloody snogging? You’ve avoided me since then, and frankly, I’m tired of it.”

“I have standards, you know.”

Seneca pressed his lips together, annoyed, “Well, so did I, but _clearly_ not.”

“That’s not what I meant..”

“Then what did you mean? Am I not good enough for you? Because it sure as hell seemed like you had cared-” Seneca said, but was cut off by Regulus’s lips meeting his own. 

He wanted to break away, but it felt too good, so he leaned in, and wound his arms around Regulus’ back.

After a moment, Regulus broke away, and blushed. 

“Sorry…” he said, slowly. 

Seneca blinked, and then after a moment, responded, “There’s nothing to be sorry for. Just don’t ignore me, and be honest about your feelings. Want to sit and talk?” He was still smiling, in spite of himself. 

Regulus glanced back briefly at the door, looking nervous, before sitting down on the bench. 

He started fidgeting with his hands, which Seneca took note of, but decided to ignore, “Do you hate me?” he asked softly. 

“Why would I hate you?” Seneca asked, his voice taking on an empathetic tone. 

Regulus turned to face him, visibly resisting the urge to say something nasty, “I mean, I’ve never been nice to you. And I refused to talk to you for months, just because of…”

“A kiss,” Seneca said, flatly. 

Regulus blushed, and after Seneca added, “Well, technically, kisses,” the other boy blushed even more, before saying, “I was just doing what I thought was right. I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

“I know, that’s why I believe you.”

Regulus looked up at him and gave a quick smile, before saying, “I should probably go.”

“Are you sure? Who’s going to notice if you’re gone for a while?”

“Barty. But he’s asleep.”

“Then stay, please. Think of it as payback.”

Regulus rolled his eyes, and sat next to Seneca. The two boys leaned their heads against each other, thinking about what a relationship between them would entail, and how they would even accomplish it. 

“We can’t tell anyone. Especially Sirius,” Regulus said. 

Seneca laughed, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell Sirius, I prefer keeping my head attached to my body.” 

But then he gave a small frown, and added, “Lily does know though.”

“You told that bloody _mudblood_?” Regulus asked, furiously. 

Seneca looked down at him in annoyance, “This is the kind of thing that makes me want to dislike you. If you want to keep talking to me, then stop saying slurs and being bigoted. It’s not that hard.”

“Sorry, It’s just, It’s what I was raised with.”

Seneca sighed, “I understand, but let’s please work on that more, okay?”

After roughly a half hour in the compartment, Seneca quietly said goodbye, and made his way back to his seat, as did Regulus. 

When he reentered the compartment, Sirius and James were still asleep, now joined by Peter, and Remus was in the middle of reading one of his books. 

“Hey Remus,” Seneca greeted. 

The boy looked up at him suspiciously, “Where were you?”

“...Nowhere.”

Remus rolled his eyes, “I’m sure. I would wipe that look off your face before Sirius and James start asking questions.”

Seneca reddened, and sat down, busying himself by reorganizing his trunk, and getting his school robes out. 

The train ride ended about an hour later, and Seneca met up with the other new Prefects, as Professor Flitwick had been given the responsibility of handing out badges at the train station. 

He and Remus said goodbye to James, SIrius, and Peter, who looked on in relative jealousy, and found Lily, who was waiting by a door. 

She rolled her eyes, “Thank god you’re not with ‘ _Prongsie’_.”

Seneca and Remus shared an uncomfortable laugh, and she mumbled something, before grabbing them both by the wrists, and dragging them out onto the platform. 

Professor Flitwick was already waiting by one of the archways that led to the Carriage yard, with a long parchment in one hand, and a satchel of silver badges in the other. 

Lily went first, and the professor found her name on the list, and subsequently checked it off.

“Ah, Ms. Evans, you’ll make a fine addition to our group of Prefects,” he said, with a smile. 

Seneca went next, and Professor Flitwick reached up to shake his hand, which made Seneca have to bow down to reach him, “Hello Mr. Locklear, I’m proud to bestow this privilege upon you.”

The short man handed him a badge, and with a start, he realized it was made of silver, “Um, Professor? These are made of silver. Would you mind if I hold onto Remus’ for the time being?” he asked, pointedly. 

At first Flitwick looked on in confusion, and then a look of horror grew on his face, as he recognized Remus, “My goodness, I can’t believe I forgot, of course.”

Seneca nodded, and the professor then checked off Remus’ name as well, before waving the three away. 

“Mate, thanks for that,” Remus said, walking up next to him, “What are you going to do about it though?”

“I’ll transfigure it into tin or platinum, or something like that while we’re in the carriage.”

As both were too engaged in discussing the challenges of the badge, they neglected to notice Lily’s look of confusion as she stared at them. 

As soon as they arrived at a carriage, Lily split off to go sit with Marlene and Dorcas, while Severus looked on from the adjacent path with an expression of anger. 

Seneca skirted around the greasy boy, and sat in the last seat next to Remus, where he started working on the badge. 

“Woah, cool badge,” Peter said. 

Remus looked over at him, and said quietly, “Thanks, but it’s made of silver. We have to transfigure it.”

“Oh..”

“Honestly, Peter, how did you not realize that,” Sirius said sharply. 

“Oi, shut up Sirius, you didn’t know either,” the boy responded, unusual angrily. 

“Whatever,” Sirius grumbled. 

Seneca ignored them, busying himself with trying to spell the badge, challenging himself by not using his wand. 

There were several charms and spells already laced over, but since they were mostly so that the badge couldn't be damaged, it was relatively easy to change it. All he had to do was mentally isolate the silver sections of the badge, and then focus on turning them into the other type of metal. It was a bit difficult without his wand, as the limited wandless magic his Mom had taught him was barely enough to transfigure it. However, he eventually felt like he had gotten it done, and handed it to Remus, “Did it, I think.”

Remus carefully touched it with the tip of his finger, and feeling nothing bad, he pinned it onto his robes. 

Meanwhile, James looked at Seneca in confusion, “How the bloody hell did you do that? ‘Didn’t use your wand.”

“Yeah…. I used wandless magic.”

The other boys’ mouths fell open, “You can’t use wandless magic, it’s illegal,” Peter said. 

Seneca laughed, and then seeing the severity of their expressions, he asked, “Wait, you’re not joking? It’s perfectly legal back across the pond, I had thought it would be the same here…”

“No, it’s been illegal for decades,” Peter said.  
Sirius spoke up, “Well, the Ministry doesn’t trace it. They only accuse you of it if they have something to exact against you, because my Mum and Dad use it all the time.”

James blanched, “What do you mean they don’t have anything against your parents? There must’ve been dozens of complaints filed against them _this year_ alone.”

“They pay the Ministry off, obviously. They have the money to do it.”

Seneca gave an uncomfortable laugh, “No one’s ever argued against this?”

“No.”

“Isn’t it a bit odd though?”

“How,” James asked. 

Seneca thought for a bit and then explained, “Well, the government makes you think that you need a tool to access your magic, which isn’t true. And although a wand makes it somewhat easier, it’s unhealthy to use, because your magical core grows to depend on it. Anyways, the fact that the government _controls_ the production of wands, _and_ decides who does and who doesn’t get them sounds like a method of controlling the population. Because do you think that most of Magical Britain would be able to perform magic if their wands were taken away?”

Gobsmacked, James took a second to respond, “....they wouldn’t be able to…. I can barely do any wandless magic, and my parents even tried to teach me a bit.”

“I never thought of that,” Remus said, “It’s disappointing that the Ministry would enforce that, but honestly, I’m not too surprised.”

“MACUSA doesn’t really have to do it though, mostly because nearly every magical citizen in America lives in the cities or designated zones in the Great Plains and Southwest, so it’s really easy to police and track people. Something along the lines of six out of every ten magical citizens in MACUSA live in the Northeast Megalopolis,” Seneca said, matter-of-factly. 

The others looked at him in confusion.

“It’s the chain of cities in America that stretches from DC to Boston. Or Richmond to Portland, depending on who you ask,” Seneca explained.

Remus nodded, very clearly having understood, while the other three still looked confused. 

“I’ll show you on a map during breakfast tomorrow, okay?”

James and Sirius nodded, still not entirely sure of themselves, while Peter turned away to stare out one of the small windows. 

The carriage was pulling up to the school, and Seneca disembarked with his friends, and they subsequently made their way across the viaduct to the Great Hall. 

It was still quite warm out, and as the sun was only just then setting, it made for quite a beautiful scene as the crowd of students filed across the bridge towards the school. 

The first night was just the same as it was every year, except with the added stress of being a prefect, as Seneca, Lily, and Remus had to keep an eye out on the other students in the hall.

The next day, Seneca made sure to grab the parchment map of MACUSA from his trunk, and showed it to James and Sirius in the great hall that morning. 

They looked at it in confusion for a second, before James asked, “What are all those bits of darker land?”

Seneca pointed to the map key, “Those are the protected territories. MACUSA can’t protect you in the rest. That’s how they control the population; they keep them in set zones.”

“What does MACUSA need to protect you from?”

“The muggle American government, obviously. We’ll actually be learning about why that is this year, in History of Magic.”

“Can you quickly explain?” Emmeline asked, having come to sit down next to Seneca. 

Mary, who was sitting nearby, piped up, “My family is mostly from Quebec, although originally Jamaica, so I know a bit about it, and it’s a totally rubbish situation. It’s not much better in Canada, though.”  
“Yeah,” Seneca agreed, before explaining. “In the late 1930’s, MACUSA tried to initiate contact with the muggle government, and to say the least, it didn’t go well. There were thousands of kidnappings, and we were only able to rescue several hundred people. Rumor has it that the Muggle government took them to secret facilities in the mountains, and experimented on them, likely for yet another weapon in some stupid war.”

“What the fuck,” James exclaimed, in shock. 

Seneca grimaced, and then continued, “Since we were already exposed, MACUSA basically threatened the Muggle government with dementors, among other things, in addition to some stuff we don’t _actually_ have, but Muggles will believe anything. They backed off, and said that they wouldn’t do anything else, but obviously, we don’t trust them. Because of that, MACUSA paid off people to move into these zones that they drew, and the vast majority moved to this cluster here,” he said, pointing to one of the larger protected territories, which stretched across much of the northeastern and mid-atlantic coast.

“That’s insane,” James said, “Why haven’t I heard about that before?”

“It’s pretty taboo to talk about, because people have a fear of it happening in their own countries. And the US isn’t the only country with that problem,” Seneca explained.

“It’s pretty much the same situation in Canada, albeit to a bit less of a ‘kidnappy’ degree” Mary said.

“Shit, that sucks,” Sirius said. 

Seneca gave him a blank look, and then said, “That couldn't really happen here, mostly because the Ministry and Muggle Britain have been connected for Millennia. The current version of muggle America has only existed for several centuries, and the United States is also a huge country, so it’s even harder to maintain connection and cohesion.”

James interrupted, “Thanks for the monologue, but this isn’t history class. I would like to get back to eating.”

Seneca rolled his eyes, “You’re welcome James.”

Everyone else resumed eating, except for Remus, who continued to look at the map.

“What’s this huge patch here?”, he said, pointing to the largest protected zone on the map, which covered much of the southwest. 

“That’s a collection of Native territories, and some larger cities in Arizona and parts of Utah and Nevada. Flagstaff and Kaibab are the largest magical communities in it, and Las Vegas is the biggest Muggle City.”

“Is that where you went for vacation last year?” he asked.

Seneca smiled, “Yeah, my grandparents on my Dad’s side live in Flagstaff, and they serve as both of the representatives for that zone in the MACUSA parliament.”

“Oh, cool,” he said, and then lowered his voice, “I never got a chance to properly thank you yesterday, transfiguring that badge was bloody huge help.”

“Anytime,” Seneca said, but was distracted by Regulus leaving the hall. 

“I’ll be right back,” he said, and quickly got up from the table, as Remus and Emmeline looked on in confusion. 

The second he entered the corridor outside the Great Hall, he found Regulus in the hall. 

The boy turned around, and faced him, “I knew you would follow me. I have something important to tell you.”

“What?” Seneca asked, confused. 

“Barty’s getting suspicious of where I was on the train, and more importantly, who I was with. I’m pretty sure he saw you. I don’t want to do it, but it would be smart for us to avoid each other for a bit, at least until October.”  
Seneca’s heart sank, but he knew Regulus was right, “Alright. But can you try to limit your bigoted nonsense? When you’re only around him, you tend to be… um.”

“You can say it, you know. I’m aware of how horrible I act. But I have a reputation to maintain, and parents to impress. I can’t, I would never.. _ever_... be able to disappoint them.”

Seneca looked at him in worry, “Their opinion isn’t the only thing that matters, you know? And do you really want to fit what they think you should be?”

Regulus appeared to almost shake, and said, “I- I need them to think of me well. It’s the only way for... “  
“For what?”

“I… I don’t know.”

“It’s okay to be afraid, to not know what you’re doing. Just please don’t be a monster because of it. Alright?”

Regulus gave a small smile, and said, “I need to go meet with my head of house anyways. I have to make a schedule change.”

“Oh, have fun then,” Seneca said, and waved as the boy walked off towards the dungeons. 

He made his way back to the table, and after Remus, who was still examining the map, gave him a weird look, he finished eating his breakfast, and waited for the schedules to arrive. 

At 8am precisely, the schedule cards appeared, hovering in the air, above each student. 

Seneca plucked his out of the air, and compared his schedule with his friends.

He and Emmeline were in the same Ravenclaw group again, thank god, he couldn’t imagine being separated from his only other real friend in his house. 

They had about a third of their classes with the Gryffindors, the lowest level of any year so far, but luckily, all but one of the other classes were with the Hufflepuffs. 

He wasn’t upset with his schedule, and although it certainly could’ve been better, it could’ve been so much worse. 

September dragged on slower than almost any month in Seneca’s life before; it was tortuous to see Regulus in the corridors and Great Hall, and to not be able to talk to or even look at him for too long. 

McGonagall and Flitwick had, of course, signed him up for each of their respective clubs, as Seneca was now old enough to be eligible for the Transfiguration club, and Flitwick had personally asked him and Emmeline to rejoin the Charms club this year. 

Care of Magical Creatures, which Seneca’s father was still forcing him to take, was a bit more intense than usual, with the class learning about and experiencing progressively more and more dangerous creatures. Apparently, a domesticated Welsh Green dragon was going to be brought in for a live-class around mid-January, much to the chagrin of James and Sirius, who likely wouldn't stop talking about it for the rest of the year. 

His one other elective course, Ancient Runes, had such a small fifth-year class body that all of the students were condensed into one lesson block. 

As a result, Seneca had it with Remus, Lily, and Emmeline, which made him love the class far more than the actual course material did. 

This year, they were studying Proto-European runes, mostly from Austria and Switzerland, as the runes there were the best preserved and documented in all of Europe, although they came nowhere near the Chinese and Native American runic records. 

History of Magic was just as boring as usual, although Professor Binns had mentioned something about a North America unit in March, which may be something to look forward to, Seneca thought. They had that class with the Slytherins, so there were bound to be numerous negative comments on the lack of blood purity in the Americas. Seneca would probably be called on frequently, as he and his sister were the only Americans in the school, so he would use every opportunity he got to shut down the Slytherin’s idiotic, bigoted opinions. 

He didn’t hate DADA, but just like the year before, there was a new teacher. Priya and Amanda had gotten a civil union contract in the Netherlands, and gotten jobs teaching English at a Muggle Dutch school. It wasn’t surprising that they had left, as nearly every DADA teacher had done so before. Rumor had it that if you didn’t leave of your own accord after one year, there was a curse that would force you to leave. 

The new teacher, Professor McIntyre, was an ancient, centenarian woman from Aberdeen, and she had one of the thickest Scottish accents Seneca had ever heard. Her teaching style wasn’t necessarily horrible, it was just painfully old-fashioned, and as a result, the class was certainly not one of his favorites. 

As usual, he loved Charms and Herbology, as the relative logic and problem-solving style of the courses made a lot of sense to him. 

The potions they were learning were definitely more difficult than the year before, and Professor Slughorn wanted that they would only get harder this year, as OWLs would be held in June.

Their first potion of the year was a Draught of Peace, and the Professor reminded them multiple times how it was _incredibly likely_ that they would be required to brew it for the OWLs, so Seneca made sure to transcribe the entire process, which he filed away in his trunk for practice in June. 

The year started off in Herbology with relatively easy self-fertilizing shrubs, although a series of reminder lessons on how to take care of mandrakes was scheduled for October, much to Seneca’s dismay. He really did hate those plants. 

Astronomy was just as mind-numbingly boring as usual, and Seneca would’ve done anything to be taking the solar system studies classes he had taken at Muggle School in America, because even if they were boring, he actually learned important, _real_ information from them. 

The day he almost completely lost it was when the Professor referred to the moons in the solar system as completely useless, and noticing his annoyance, Emmeline asked, “What’s wrong?”

He exhaled sharply, and quietly said, “The moons in the solar system are arguably more important than the planets. There are more moons that are earth-like and that could sustain life than planets in the solar system, but _clearly_ that doesn't matter in this class.”

She nodded slowly, seemingly alarmed at his fixation, and turned back to her work, further aggravating Seneca. 

He contemplated skipping that class several times, but he wouldn’t risk losing his Prefect badge.

Speaking of being a prefect, he had been assigned night rounds with Lily on Tuesdays, and with a Hufflepuff girl named Anna Bones on Thursdays. 

The Tuesday rounds were actually pretty fun, and although they did actually have to do stuff, he and Lily spent much of their time talking to each other and playing verbal games. 

On the other hand, Thursday rounds were deafeningly silent, and although Anna seemed to be loud around her friends, she refused to talk to Seneca, except for a quiet hello at the start, and a goodbye at the end. 

He had only given out a couple detentions, and although he was trying to keep the numbers consistent between houses, a disproportionate number went to the Slytherins. 

It was two weeks into October when he finally broke. 

Regulus hadn’t tried to talk to him yet, and it pained Seneca to see the boy’s expressions of discomfort and fear as he was surrounded by his Slytherin classmates, nearly every day. 

He cornered Regulus in the hall after supper, following the boy out as he made his way to the Slytherin Dorms.

Regulus glanced around, and quietly said, “I can’t be seen with you.”

“Why?” Seneca asked, flatly. 

“The other Slytherins.. They’ve been saying that we shouldn’t associate with students from any other house. Even Ravenclaws. Or we won’t be seen as valuable followers of the Dark Lord.”

Seneca looked at him in confusion, “Who?”

Regulus blinked and then said, “Do you even keep up with British politics at all?”

“No, not really,” Seneca admitted. 

“Well, all you need to know is that he embodies everything that the worst Slytherins and Pureblood families stand for, and that he’s trying to make his own, um, Regime… in Britain.”

Seneca laughed, “As if anyone could ever do that.”

Regulus gave a dark look, “It’s more likely than you think. Word is that that’s what the International Confederation meeting is about. You know? The one that’s happening next week?”

“My Grandmother is actually there for that.”

Regulus raised his eyebrows, “Your grandmother is Seraphina Picquery?”

Seneca gave him a sarcastic smile, “I thought you would already know that. Don’t the pureblood families _love_ to gossip about other powerful families?”

“Most don’t.. like to talk about Americans, to say the least.”

“Whatever. I don’t care for their opinions anyways,” Seneca stated, annoyed for some reason. 

Regulus smirked, and said, “I ought to go.”

A look of concern grew on Seneca’s face, “Wait, we just started talking, can we go somewhere more private?” he asked, and took Seneca's hands into his own.

Regulus rolled his eyes, and started to say, “Looking to snog me again?”, but fell short when he saw Seneca’s expression. 

The taller boy was looking down at Regulus’ wrists, which were crisscrossed with tiny scars. 

Regulus snatched his arms away, and backed up, “I’m fine,” he stammered. 

Seneca looked at him, looking even more worried than he ever had before, “Are you?”

Regulus opened his mouth to speak, and then closed it. 

“I know somewhere where we can talk. And where I can help you.”

Regulus started to say something, but Seneca shushed him, instead taking him by the shoulders, and directing him towards the nearest staircase. 

After a long walk through the school, the two arrived at a door on the fifth floor, on the left side of a nondescript hallway. 

“What is this?” Regulus asked, still apprehensive. 

“Prefect’s bathroom,” Seneca explained, and then mumbled, “Squeaky clean,” at which the door slid open. 

The entire room was encased in shiny white marble, and a collection of stained glass windows, the largest of which held a design of mermaid, covered the far wall. 

A large, deep pool was sunken into the middle of the room, which was surrounded by almost a hundred different taps, each beset with a different jewel. 

Regulus gaped, and then murmured, “I had better be a Prefect next year.”

Seneca nodded curtly, visibly still upset, and said, “I can get you swimming trunks from the cabinet, and then you can go change in the stalls,” referencing a row of wooden stalls which lined the left wall. 

Seneca reached over to a small cabinet near the door, and fetched two pairs of trunks.

“No one else is going to come?” Regulus asked. 

Seneca shook his head, “No one uses it at night, especially on a Wednesday.”

The two then disappeared into stalls at the opposite end of the row, before emerging several minutes later. Regulus was still wearing an undershirt, and Seneca chose not to say anything about it.

Seneca quietly observed the boy’s pale, small frame, and then noticed his eyes taking in Seneca’s own body, with his light brown skin and toned muscles. 

Seneca mustered the only smile he could at the moment, as Regulus’ scars were still on his mind, “I see you like, um, it,” he said, gesturing to himself. 

Regulus slowly nodded, and Seneca continued, “You can thank hours of Quidditch practice for this.”

The boy responded sourly, “Then why don’t I look like that. I also play Quidditch, you know.”

“First of all, you’re still beautiful, don’t drag yourself down. And I don’t really know, maybe because Ravenclaw has really intense practices, but it also could just be that everyone’s body is different.”

Regulus nodded, and made his way over to the pool, “How do I use this? And how will it ‘help’?”

“Each of the different taps does something different, to be honest, I don’t know what they all do yet, though, but that one,” he said, pointing to a small tap with a pinkish gem, “Adds a kind of soap that relieves pain, and that one” he pointed to one beset with a large green jewel, “Dumps out epsom salts that are supposed to be relaxing.”

“Which one makes _actual water_?”

Seneca rolled his eyes, “The biggest one, the one without a gem. Obviously.”

Regulus muttered something, and turned the knob. To his surprise, the pool began to fill up much faster than it seemed to be possible, considering the size of the tub, and the speed and volume of the water flowing into it. 

While he stared at the pool in confusion, Seneca turned the knobs of the two taps he had mentioned earlier, and then went to fetch two towels from the cabinet. 

Regulus slowly lowered himself into the rising water, and when Seneca arrived back at the pool, he turned off the taps, and then joined Regulus. 

The water was deep for Regulus, who had to stand on his tiptoes to keep his chin above the water, but perfectly normal for Seneca, whose shoulders were still exposed. 

“Can you tell me why?” Seneca asked, clearly talking about the scars.

Having already thought about it, Regulus quietly responded, “It’s the only way I can be in control of anything. I feel like everything is going against me in my life.. It’s like I can’t decide anything for myself,” he said, choking on his words. 

“What exactly do you mean?”

“It feels like every moment, every day, my parents are there, whispering in my ear, telling me what I should and shouldn’t do.”

Seneca pulled him in closer, and said, “It’s going to be okay. There are many ways to detach yourself from them.”

Regulus spoke up, softly saying, “You know, you’re the only person that’s actually tried to talk to me in years. Or empathized with me. No one else tries to even think about who I actually am, they just write me off as the _bigoted, rich, aristocratic ass_ from Slytherin house.”

“I’m sure not everyone does that-” Seneca started, but was cut off. 

“ _They do._ Have you seen the way everyone looks at me,” his voice wavered, “It’s like they genuinely just.. don’t think of anything else”

Seneca squeezed him tighter, and then broke away to turn on a different knob. 

“What does that do?” Regulus asked. 

“It adds more salts to the water, so that it’s easier to float, it’s supposedly more relaxing.”

He nodded, and indeed felt the water pushing him up, off of the pool bottom. 

“Can I see them?” Seneca asked. 

Regulus extended his pale arms towards the boy, displaying his scarred wrists. 

He involuntarily shuddered, and tears started to well in his eyes. 

Seneca pulled him back in, and said, “They don’t make you any less beautiful. You are amazing, and if you want, I can remove them. Just know that if you want, I can get rid of them.”

Regulus sucked in a shaky breath, and slowly said, “No, I want them here as a reminder.”

“A reminder of what?” Seneca asked. 

“To not be weak.”

Seneca sighed, and shook his head, “You’re not weak. You know that, right?”

Regulus looked down, peering through the water at the shiny tiles.

The other boy continued to speak, “If you don’t want them to be gone, at least let me show you how to prevent an infection, and how to relieve pain.”

The shorter boy gave a curt nod, and Seneca grabbed his wand from the edge of the pool. 

He then beckoned for Regulus to come closer, and then held up his own arm, “Alright, so I’m going to make a _small_ incision on myself, just to show you how to fix it,” he said. 

Regulus paled, and when Seneca swished his wand and grimaced as a cut appeared on his wrist, he appeared to visibly grow distressed. 

“Hey, it’s okay,” Seneca said, wrapping around the other boy with his free arm. 

“Here, watch what you need to do,” he said, and moved his arm from within the grasp of Regulus’, tossing the wand back onto the floor. 

Regulus looked at him in confusion, “How’re you going to do it now?”

“Wandless magic, duh,” Seneca responded. 

“That’s…. Illegal.”

Seneca shrugged, and then waved his hand over the cuts, before whispering a quick incantation, and the cuts closed up and disappeared. 

“See? I’ll write that one and a couple others down on some parchment before we leave, alright?”

He looked at the clock, and realizing the time, he helped himself and Regulus out of the water, and performed a brief drying spell, before the two changed back into their robes. 

Seneca, who had finished changing before Regulus, handed the other boy a small parchment with several spells and their uses written down. 

“Here you go,” he said with a smile. 

Regulus went to put the towels and trunks in a small laundry hamper by the cabinet, and Seneca drained the tub. 

They met back up at the door they had come through, and Seneca looked down at Regulus, before saying, “Well I guess this is goodbye for a while longer, isn’t it?”

“It doesn’t have to be,” Regulus said, softly. 

Seneca smirked, and chastely kissed the other boy slowly, moving his hand around the small Regulus’ back. 

After several moments, the two pulled away, and Seneca said, “Same time, same place, in two weeks?”

Regulus gave a curt nod, and the two walked off, externally acting like nothing had happened, but with emotions running wild internally. 

The next week couldn’t have gone by faster for Seneca. He rushed through everything, completing all of his assignments and classwork as soon as he could, and spending all available free time thinking about Regulus. Remus and Emmeline looked at him in near-constant confusion, while Lily watched on with a small grin on her face, clearly knowing what was happening. 

In fact, it was the day of the Halloween feast, when Seneca was called to the Headmaster's office from charms class. 

James proceeded to raise a ruckus, teasing Seneca about “Finally getting in trouble,” as if Seneca hadn’t gotten detention the year before because of one of James’ own pranks. 

He made his way down to the small doorway, and confused on how to enter, he waited outside, only to be surprised with the sight of Professor McGonagall walking Nadia to the entrance as well. 

“Ah, you’re here as well, very good,” she said, before calling out “Gumdrops.”

Seneca was about to ask why on Earth she had just said that, when the floor underneath them started to move. They slowly rotated upwards, before arriving in an eccentrically-decorated room, with soaring alcoves and dozens of bookcases. Professor Dumbledore, in his traditional outlandish attire and half-moon glasses, greeted the three of them, “Ms. and Mr. Locklear, Professor McGonagall,” he said, nodding at each one in turn, before turning to face specifically the two students, “Your parents have requested that you floo home briefly. Apparently it has something to do with your Grandmother?” the man said, clearly prying for more information. 

Annoyed by his intrusiveness, Seneca gave as nondescript a reply as he could, “She and our Grandfather were here for a business meeting, they probably just want to say goodbye.”

The man sat back into his chair, visibly disappointed, “Very well. You may use that fireplace there, the floo powder is in the jar on the mantle.”

Seneca nodded, and grabbed a fistful of powder, before taking his sister's arm with his free hand. 

Stepping into the fireplace, he called out, “Claremont Place.”

Dumbledore’s office disappeared, and all of a sudden, he was back in the parlor at home. It was jarring to be home, so he was initially distracted by how everyone was gathered in the room. 

“Nana? Grandpa?” Nadia asked, confused.

“What’s going on?” Seneca questioned. 

“Irene, you have to tell them,” Seraphina prodded her daughter. 

Seneca’s Mother gritted her teeth, and muttered, “I _will not_. They needn’t know.”

“Fine then, I’ll tell them,” Seneca’s Nan said. 

Irene looked on in horror, but was stopped from interrupting by Nick, who pulled her towards him. 

Seraphina turned towards the two kids, “There’s someone very powerful and very evil gaining strength in Britain. It’s not safe to stay here, there are fears that attacks may begin sooner rather than later, and the stability of the Ministry is in question. You need to move back to America, no matter however safe your mother thinks you are here, because clearly, her judgement is quite far off.”

“How _dare_ you,” Irene shouted, but was interrupted by Seneca, who said, “I know. There are people talking about him. Mostly Slytherins.”

The older woman turned and fixated on her daughter with a glare. 

Irene pursed her lips, and said to her kids, with an unnaturally even tone, “Why don’t you two leave now, alright. Say goodbye to your grandparents.” 

Seneca and Nadia mumbled a brief goodbye, and after they hugged everyone, they stepped back into the fire and left. 

As the room warped out of focus, he heard a screaming match begin between his Mom and Grandma, which, from what he could hear, was even worse than any he had ever heard. 

Almost immediately after, he was standing back in Dumbledore’s office, and he and Professor McGonagall looked at the two students in surprise. 

“Well, wasn’t that quick,” the old man said. 

“Tell me about it,” Seneca mumbled.

“May I ask why?”

A nasty look grew on Seneca’s face, but before he could say anything, he was interrupted by Nadia.

“Our Nan wants us to move back to the states. ‘Says it won’t be safe here soon. I dunno about that though.”

“ _Nadia_ ,” Seneca chastised, “ _That was supposed to be a secret._ ”

“Oh well,” she said, and shrugged, “I’ve got to get back to the Common Room.”

“Me too,” Seneca said, through gritted teeth. 

“Why don’t you two go on then,” McGonagall said, “I have something to discuss with the Professor.”

The two left the office, and as soon as he could, Seneca split away from his sister, annotated at how easily she had just given information away. 

The events of that evening ruined the feast for Seneca, and he lost some of his momentum in apprehension for the next Wednesday. 

However, before he knew it, he was walking up to the Prefect’s bathroom, and Regulus was waiting outside, “Couldn’t get in,” the boy said, sounding annoyed. 

Seneca smiled, and said, “Password changes every week.”

He then let the both of them in, and they went through the same routine as that one day two weeks ago.

Before too long, Seneca found himself in the water with Regulus. 

He had used somewhat warmer water, and turned up the steam, so that the bathroom nearly felt like a spa. The two grew closer in the water, and eventually, Seneca found his lips locked with Regulus’. 

After nearly thirty minutes in the pool together, the two sheepishly climbed out, and dried off and changed, before meeting at the door. 

“Again? In two weeks?” Seneca asked, smiling. 

Regulus blushed, and gave a small nod, before walking off to the Slytherin dorms. 

Much of the rest of the term went on like that, Seneca would spend a normal amount of time with his friends, including Hogsmeade weekends, as he and Regulus still weren’t sure they could risk being seen together yet, but every two weeks, he and the other boy would meet in the Prefect’s bathroom. 

Depending on their moods, sometimes they would just talk, but other times, they were only in the mood to do _other things_.

Seneca was channeling most of his positive energy into his classes, and his teachers were really noticing, commenting on his newfound work ethic multiple times. It wasn’t that he was a bad student before, quite the opposite, but for the first time, he was always happy, in every single one of his classes.

James and Sirius were too stupid to notice any changes, but Remus and Emmeline looked at him increasingly more suspiciously every day. 

Lily, on the other hand, found the whole situation rather hilarious, and had confronted Seneca about it rather early on, confirming his suspicions that she knew what was happening. 

On the last day before they left to go home, Seneca had scheduled an extra ‘Pool Date’ with Regulus, as the two had come to call it. They met in the water again, and after Seneca showed off a couple different jumps he had learned at his local public pool back in America, the two sat together on the edge, swirling their legs in the water. 

Regulus leaned against Seneca, and the taller boy played with the shorter boy’s damp locks, who was busy drawing patterns into Seneca’s tan legs with his fingers, watching as the color would disappear and reappear in his skin. 

“Stay at Hogwarts with me for Christmas, my parents are in America for a conference, so I'll be here,” Seneca said. 

“I can’t,” Regulus murmured. 

“Why?”

“My Parents would never allow it.”

“You don’t have to tell them.”

“They would know.”

“You could say that you’re staying at school over break to study?”

Regulus shivered, “They would find out. And I can't - I can’t disappoint them. It’s not allowed.”

“You don’t have to base yourself off of someone with opinions as shitty as theirs,” Seneca spat.

Regulus leaned away sharply, “Then whose opinions should I care for? They’re my parents, Seneca. Who else's’ opinion is as valuable as theirs?”

Seneca looked at him, indignantly, “Well, first of all, there’s me, in case that wasn’t obvious. And then there’s McGonagall, Flitwick, Remus, Lily, Emmeline, the list can go on and on.”

“Well, obviously I care for your opinion. But everyone else in that list hates me, with the possible exception of Professor Flitwick.”

“They don’t hate you-” Seneca started, but was interrupted. 

“Yes they do.”

Seneca shook his head sadly, and tried to add something else, but was interrupted yet again. 

“The baseline is that no one’s opinion is as valuable as my parents. Even yours, however mean that may sound. I love you, but you’re not them.”

Seneca stared at the swirling water, “Please come to my house for break.”

“I can’t.”

The taller boy sighed, and slowly got up, “Just, be good, okay? Try not to be too bigoted or too much of an ass.”

Regulus smiled up at him, “I thought you liked my ass.”

Seneca blinked, surprised at the rapid change in mannerisms, “Well, I didn’t say I disliked _that_ , but what’s with the pivot in your attitude?”

“I would prefer not to talk about my parents anymore.”

“Alright, you do you,” Seneca said, with a shrug, but was even more surprised by feeling Regulus’ hands on his cheeks, and barely even a second later, Regulus’ lips on his own. 

He initially wanted to break away, but fell back into the other boy, his arms lacing around his back. 

Regulus then slowly moved the two of them towards the smooth marble wall, which he pushed Seneca up against. 

He slowly opened his eyes, and made eye contact with Seneca as he bit the taller boy’s lip. 

After several moments, he pulled away, leaving Seneca in shock, leaning against the wall. 

“Jesus fuck,” Seneca murmured, “Someone was pushy today.”

Regulus smiled, “What can I say, It’s the last day for three weeks, I needed a little goodbye sesh.”

“You horny motherfucker,” Seneca laughed. 

“You don’t have to change in the stall,” Regulus said in response, trying to be nonchalant, but betraying himself as a blush rose in his cheeks. 

Playing along, Seneca responded, “Alright, I can do that, if it’s what you _want_.”

Regulus stammered, and his mouth fell open as Seneca proceeded to strip in the middle of the room. 

“Oh my god..” he whispered. 

“Thanks,” Seneca said, rolling his eyes, “ _very_ descriptive.”

“How are you still so bloody sarcastic while you’re fucking naked in a bathroom,” Regulus said.

“I dunno, are you going to be in the same situation, because maybe then we’ll see.”

Regulus slowly pulled off his undershirt and swimtrunks and when Seneca laid eyes on him, the atmosphere in the room dimmed slightly. 

There were dozens of scars speckling his body, most of them very clearly inflicted by someone other than himself. 

Seneca observed him for a second, and quickly said, “The scars don’t make you any less beautiful. They make you, well _you_ , if that makes any sense. And you’re still real bloody hot,” he said, with a smirk, trying to recover the mood that had been lost. 

Regulus gave a weak smile, and finished changing into his own clothes, as did Seneca. 

The two then met for a tight hug, and Seneca whispered “Happy early Christmas, Reg.”

Regulus smiled at him, and whispered “Happy early Christmas, Seneca.”

As Regulus made his way down to the Great Hall, he was randomly pulled aside by Professor Slughorn in one of the hallways. 

"Mr. Black," the man started. 

"Yes?"

"A letter arrived for you today, from your parents," he said, handing the boy a piece of parchment. 

Regulus unfurled it, and started in shock and dismay at the single line. 

" _Will not be home for Winter Holidays. Stay at Hogwarts_

 _\- Regards, Walburga Black_ "

"I.. what do I do?" Regulus asked. 

"I'll sign you up for a slot staying here, but I would advise for you to notify your friends and to unpack your things, if you had already packed."

Still reeling, Regulus nodded, and then slowly made his way down to the common rooms. 

After he unpacked, and told Barty, he made his way up to the Great Hall for supper. 

Seeing Seneca, he signaled to the other boy, and met him in the Hall. 

"Change of plans. I have to stay here too," Regulus said quickly, at which Seneca immediately burst into a smile, and wrapped his arms around the shorter boy. 

Maybe this winter wouldn't be so bad, after all, Regulus thought. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM SO FUCKING TIRED  
> Mini Update: Originally this said I would be done with the next chapter tmrw, but obviously that didn't happen. I had like five projects/papers due that I forgot abt so I wasn't able to do it Monday and Tuesday.  
> And I had been planning to do it today, but I live in DC. so.... yeah.  
> Anyways, I'm hoping to get it out tmrw but it's been really hard to be motivated lately so ig we'll just see.
> 
> ANOTHER UPDATE: currently its monday night and Im still not finished BUT i am already at 8k words and im not even halfway done. plus this upcoming chapter is only winter break so odds are that the rest of fifth year is also going to take a really long time. one more thing; this fic will get very very sad after/during winter break of fifth year, and it wont get happier again for a while after that... soooo....
> 
> This chapter took a while and tbh I feel like I can’t write romance to save my life, but tbh I feel like I’m doing the same with all of the rest of my writing so whatever!
> 
> Thanks for reading, have a nice day!
> 
> As always, corrections and suggestions are encouraged :)


	14. Fifth Year, Winter Hols

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Winter Hols of fifth year, alternating POVS.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so, first, ughhhh im so sorry about this chapter coming out so late, i’ve been so busy lately, AND i switched spring and winter break of fifth year, so not only did I have to write a whole new chapter, but I had to go back and make some edits which is just SO FUN. The good news is that I’ll be able to release spring break at the same time as the next chapter. Yay!
> 
> Also a quick note, most of Regulus’ internal dialogue doesn’t reflect what I think, it’s just his opinions, so take it with a grain of salt. 
> 
> This took so long because my mental health has totally gone to shit, AND my teachers have no idea what the phrase ’even distribution’ means. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!

**TW: Vaguely homophobic terms, referenced abuse, internalized homophobia, blood.**

Regulus woke up to his magical alarm shrieking on his bedside, on the first day of the winter hols. 

It was odd to see his entire dorm room, except for his own bed and dresser, cleaned up and organized, and he looked around, searching for Barty, who seemed to be miraculously awake on time. 

His year in Slytherin was relatively large, so there were nine boys in his room, and twenty-seven total, which, according to some of the older students, was one of the largest Slytherin groups in history. 

He realized with a start that the entire room was empty, so he made his way over to his dresser to get changed. 

Regulus put a lot of effort into his appearance; he strived to be the best-dressed member of the Black family, which honestly wasn’t that hard, considering how Sirius dressed like he shopped in a dumpster bin. 

He always made sure to accentuate his eyes, which were his one ‘unique’ feature that he actually liked; one was a dark brown, and the other was a piercing green. 

Since heterochromia couldn’t be modified by magic, his eyes were his one show of resistance to his parents; the one thing they could never change. 

He liked to keep his hair significantly shorter than Sirius’, who wore his own wavy dark hair down to his shoulders, while Regulus wore his cropped close to his head. Although because of his high cheekbones and large eyes, Bellatrix would constantly tease him, saying that he resembled Cosette from the production of Les Miserables, which was one of the few, if not the only, items of muggle entertainment that Regulus was allowed to see performed. Regulus didn’t really care, because she perpetually looked like she had recently been hit by a rather large person on a broomstick, but he didn’t say that, Bella was arguably the darkest witch in the family, even more than Regulus’ own parents, so she would likely inflict serious harm. 

As soon as he brushed his hair and washed his face, he slipped on a pair of boots, and walked out into the common room, which was oddly empty. He could hear some people packing in their dorms, but he didn’t see a single student. 

He really did hate the design of the Slytherin dorms; the murky green light from the lake cast everything in a gloomy, sad mood, and it was always cold and damp, making it feel like a cave. Regulus was so very jealous of Seneca, and how the Ravenclaw dorms occupied their own tower, soaring into the sky, with massive windows open to the crisp air, and flowering vines encircling the turrets. 

Although he had been in the tower several times, he had never had a good chance to see it, as the only times he had been were for crowded parties at night. 

He walked past the sharp-edged couches that were centered around a large table and exited the common room, breathing in a sigh of relief considering he hadn’t run into anyone. 

He made his way up the maze of stairs and corridors leading to the Great Hall, and as soon as he entered, he quickly made his way to the Slytherin table. 

“Hello, Barty”

The boy looked up at him, and Regulus nearly jumped. He couldn't help it, but something about Barty Jr.’s gaze, and overall resting expression, made him feel very unsafe. There was something incredibly unbalanced in the boy’s mind, and to be honest, probably with most aristocratic pureblood students, considering their  _ interwoven ancestry _ , for lack of a better term. 

“Hey, Regulus,” the boy said, his voice devoid of any emotion. Regulus gave a weak smile in return, and sat down to summon his food. 

Breakfast went by far too slow for his liking, and he spent much of the time trying to ignore Barty’s cold eyes affixed to his own forearm.    
“So, when are you getting the mark?”

Regulus felt a cold pang in his chest, he had heard things about the mark of the Dark Lord, and had decided early on that he never intended to get it. However, there was a nagging thought in the back of his head that his Mother would make him receive it, and he knew he couldn't say no to her. 

He opened his mouth, willing something to come out, but nothing did. 

Barty ignored him, going on, “I can’t get it because of my wanker  _ Father _ . If he sees it on me he’ll have me shipped off to family in Brazil. I hope that old bastard keels over and dies sooner rather than later.”

Regulus blinked rapidly at that, he was still surprised by just how casually Barty could just wish death on people, even though he had been doing it for years. 

The boy continued, “Anyways, I hope to be marked as soon as I’m done with Hogwarts. What about you?”

Regulus stammered, “Well, I don’t really know.”

Barty looked at him quizzically, visibility dissecting his facial expressions. 

Deeply uncomfortable, Regulus turned away, and was faced with Snape, who was glaring at a table on the other side of the room. 

When he turned around, he realized that it was Seneca’s table. 

With a note of alarm in his voice, Regulus asked, “What.. are you looking at over there?”

Snape blinked, and narrowed his eyes at the other boy, “Your  _ brother _ is friends with Evans.”

“And?”

The greasy-haired boy appeared to malfunction at that, “What do you mean ‘ _ and _ ’?”

Annoyed, Regulus glared at him, and said, “Why do you care who she is and isn’t friends with. It’s not like she owes it to you.”

“We  _ were  _ friends. And it appears like she doesn’t even care about that anymore.”

“Maybe if you didn’t go around harassing every single one of her mates, she would care more.”

Severus slammed his goblet on the table, “I do  _ not _ harass her friends.”

“Yes, you do. And you attack them for things that are not only beyond their control, but also apply to Lily. It’s hypocritical that you do that and still expect her to follow your every decision.”

At that, Regulus realized that most of their table was silent, and blushed, before quietly resuming eating his food. 

Severus stood up from the table, but not before spilling his drink all over the table, and in turn, onto Regulus,” _ Sorry _ ,” he spat, spitefully. 

Regulus rolled his eyes, and with a quick swish of his wand under the table, Severus fell flat on his face. 

The entire hall started to laugh at him, and the boy ran out of the room, bright red. 

Regulus then dried up the mess, and went back to avoiding Barty’s skin-crawling stare. 

After twenty mind-numbingly boring minutes, the clocks started chiming, signaling that it was time for the students that were going home to make their way to the station. 

Regulus accompanied Barty to the carriages, and waved goodbye as the boy boarded one of them. 

As soon as he was gone, Regulus breathed a sigh of relief, and turned back towards the school, only to see Seneca, James, Remus, and Sirius talking. 

“Are you sure you lot don’t want to come?” his brother said, “James has said before that he has plenty of room.”

“It’s fine, really,” Remus said, before Seneca added, “We’re good here. Plus Nadia is staying, and I can’t leave her by herself.”

Regulus knew that was a lie; Nadia had her best friend, Fazia, with her; Seneca had mentioned that multiple times when outlining just how much free time the two of them would have together. 

Seeing Regulus, Seneca looked over and winked at him, giving a small smile, at which Regulus blushed, and looked away.

Sirius, seemingly not noticing his complexion, asked, “What’re you doing here,  _ brother _ ? Going back home to entertain Mother and Father’s lies now, are you?”

Seneca’s jaw hardened, and Remus narrowed his eyes, looking back and forth between the two brothers. 

It felt like a gut-punch to Regulus, who sharply responded, “Funny you try to speak to me now, it’s been several months. And if you had even tried before, you would know that Mother and Father owled me, saying they were busy and didn’t want me home for the holidays.”

Sirius opened and closed his mouth, and Regulus continued, “You see, I’m not the heir, so to them, I do not matter at all. I’m only at home when they want me to provide a good image. Which you  _ clearly _ can’t.”

Sirius nearly exploded in a fit of rage, “They obviously care for you more, have you seen the way  _ they  _ treat me?”

“At least they pay attention to you. I’m just an object that gets occasionally struck when it isn’t functioning as perfectly as normal,” Regulus said, in a slightly shaky tone, which barely concealed the tears that threatened to spring forth from his eyes. 

“Are you a fucking nutter? They love you far more than they do me,” Sirius spat. 

Regulus blinked several times, before saying, “No they don’t. In case you haven’t noticed, which, actually, you definitely haven’t, they haven’t picked me up from the station since you left. And they have not sent me a single letter. Whenever you’re there they pick us up,  _ and  _ you still get letters.”

Sirius looked at him, a look of concern briefly flashing over his face, before it distorted into one of thinly-veiled rage, “Toss off.”

Regulus rolled his eyes, and walked away, ignoring the hurt in his heart. 

As he walked across the viaduct back to the school, he faintly heard Remus say “Oi, Siri, you really need to lay off him. He may be right, you know,” in the background.

Sirius then began to tear into Remus, at which James said, “Alright let’s go, before you attack anyone else.”

In his peripheral vision, Regulus could see Sirius’ lip curl as he walked with James back to the carriage, and saw his wand briefly whip out of his robes. 

Before he knew what was happening, he had fallen on the pavement, and he could feel blood rushing out of his nose. 

“What the  _ fuck _ ,” he muttered, his already clogged nose distorting his voice. 

“Oi, Siri, we’re not like that,” James said, yet continued to drag Sirius into the carriage without a second thought diverted to Regulus. 

All of a sudden, as soon as he had gotten up, Regulus felt a pair of hands on his shoulders. 

Already knowing who it was, he whispered, “We’re in public,” to which Seneca responded, “Yes, but I am a prefect, and part of my responsibilities is to help other students. Come on now, let’s go to the hospital wing.”

He then discreetly flicked his wrist, and the bleeding from Regulus’ nose stopped.

“You’ve really got to stop doing that one day, you’re going to get arrested.”

“Who’s going to catch me,” Seneca said with a smile, and then handed a handkerchief to Regulus, for his nose. 

The boy rolled his eyes, and involuntarily grinned, forgetting about his brother for just a moment. 

Seneca steered him by his shoulders, and Regulus let himself relax, simply observing their snowy surroundings as they walked back towards the castle. 

However, both of them failed to notice Remus, who was observing the two of them, with a look of suspicion and apprehension on his face, and a calculated look in his eyes. 

The halls were unusually empty as they made their way to the Hospital Wing, and they found Madame Pomfrey sitting on the sofa in her office, talking quietly with Professor McGonagall. 

Seneca cleared his throat, and then two women quickly separated. 

“Well, I had best be going, Poppy. Mr. Black, Mr. Locklear,” she said, nodding to the two boys. 

Madame Pomfrey gave a small laugh, and then turned to them. Seeing the cloth that Regulus was holding to his face, she asked, “What happened?”

“I.. um.. fell,” Regulus said, awkwardly. 

Seneca silently clenched his forearm, and still smiling, Regulus dug his fingernails into the other boy’s palm, signaling to him to not say anything. 

She looked at him, confused, before Regulus realized that he hadn’t even said what was wrong.

He pulled the handkerchief away, and her eyes widened at the sight of his swollen, reddened nose, and the crusted blood 

She immediately took the boy’s hand, and walked him over to one of the chairs.

“Sit,” she stated, and then walked off to the medical closet. 

Seneca came down to sit next to Regulus, “I can’t believe he did this to you. You’re his brother.”

Regulus gave a harsh laugh, “No one in our family gives a shit about how related they are.”

Seneca smirked, trying to lighten the mood, “Clearly, considering the  _ ancestry _ .”

“More like  _ incestry, _ ” Regulus said with a dry town. 

Seneca smiled, and then took his hands in his own, “I’ll make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

“No, don’t. He’ll be suspicious. Plus, this sounds more than a tad pitiful, but that’s the only kind of interaction I ever get with him. I’d like to keep it.”

Seneca gave a concerned look at that, “If that’s the only way you ever seen him, are you sure you want to keep it?”

Before Regulus could respond, Madame Pomfrey walked back out, “Alright, dear, let’s see.”

She poked and prodded his face, smearing on several ointments, and finishing with a quick  _ episkey _ . Regulus let out a sharp cry at that, and she handed him a tiny jar, which he prompt stowed in his robes; “Keep applying this for the next three days in the morning and evening, it’ll help your nose heal.”

She then clapped her hands, and said, “Vamoose now, I have things to do.”

“Come on, let’s go to the library,” Seneca said. Regulus smiled in response, and looped his arm through Seneca’s, as the two made their way through the halls. 

After lunch, and more studying in the library, Regulus found himself falling asleep at the table. His eyes drifted closed, and he awoke to Seneca’s hand cupping his face. 

He blinked slowly, and looked around drowsily, “What’s happening?”

“It’s suppertime. Come sit with me and Remus.”

Regulus felt a constricting feeling in his heart.

Noticing his discomfort, Seneca quickly said, “Don’t worry, barely anyone is here anyways, and I don’t remember seeing any Slytherins, aside from one first year and two second years.”   
“Yes, but will  _ he _ even let me sit with you two?”

“If you’re nice. Lily will probably be there too, so let’s behave please.”

Regulus rolled his eyes. He knew Seneca meant it as a joke, but it was still annoying; he had restated many times that the prejudiced things he spouted were simply to maintain protection from his parents. However, Seneca was right in that the stuff he said was hateful and needed to stop, Regulus was constantly torn up inside by truly expressing what he wanted to, versus saying what he had to in order to protect himself. 

He followed the taller boy through the halls, and purposefully avoided looking at anyone else. He would rather die than see all the other students see him, the prince of Slytherin, with the star boy of Ravenclaw. 

When he started to get bored of looking at the floor tiles, he started to observe Seneca. 

He had never quite noticed it before, but Seneca’s hair was actually pretty wavy, and the light-colored strands in his dark brown hair were more of an amber color, rather than just blonde. It was really very beautiful, and Regulus grew jealous when he saw his own straight black hair in the mirror. 

Seneca had the same high cheekbones as Regulus, although his were far less pronounced, so he didn’t look nearly as sickly as Regulus thought of himself. Seneca, of course, had complimented his facial structure multiple times, but honestly, what had Seneca not complimented.

Regulus then moved on to their overall faces, and his heart softened just a bit when he observed Seneca’s light splash of freckles across his nose and upper cheeks, which brought out his tan skin even more, when compared to Regulus’ pasty hue. 

The one thing he thought they both succeeded in was eyes; Regulus’ different colors obviously stood out plenty, in addition to their stunning shades and proclivity for matching, and Seneca’s were a warm, chocolate-brown, with golden flecks scattered throughout. They actually reminded Regulus quite of the boy’s hair, and he gave a small smile, at which Seneca asked, “What is it?”

“Oh, nothing.”

His smile disappeared when he saw the hall, there were only seven very small tables, and Lily and Remus were already sitting at one, staring pointedly at the two boys.

“Let’s go sit,” Seneca said, tugging on Regulus’ arm. 

As they walked, a feeling of alarm grew in Regulus, and especially so when he saw Remus’ suspicious look, and Lily, who was struggling to suppress a laugh. 

“Can Reg sit with us?” Seneca asked.

Lily smiled, “Of course.”   
Remus, on the other hand, simply sat there and continued to stare down the two, wondering why on earth they were all of a sudden so close.

The feast started before too long, and although the crowd was far smaller, the meal was certainly not lacking compared to its usual grandeur. 

Regulus noticed a large glimmering banner, which displayed a countdown until New Year’s, on the wall, “What’re you going to do for New Years?” he asked Seneca, quietly.   
“Well, obviously something with you,” Seneca responded with a smile.

However, the two were interrupted by Remus asking, “All right, what is going on here? Sen, since when were you friends with Regulus? And since when have you been this  _ close  _ with anyone before?”

Seneca responded with an even tone, “I'm not quite sure what you’re insinuating.”

Remus opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything, he was interrupted by a third year girl, who had materialized behind them. She had long, dark brown hair, with amber flecks, and tan skin with a splash of freckles, just like Seneca. At that, Regulus realized she was the spitting image of him; she must’ve been his sister, Nadia. 

“Well,  _ Sen _ ,” she said with a good-natured laugh, “‘Since when’ do you interact with snakes?” she asked, to which Seneca rolled his eyes in response. 

Regulus’ annoyance must’ve been showing, because she quickly said, “Just a joke, just a joke.”

“Nads, he’s my friend. What do you want?”

“Can Fazia and I sit with you guys? There aren’t any other of our friends here.”

“Of course, if that’s okay with everyone?” Seneca asked. 

Regulus, as well as Remus and Lily, gave an involuntary nod, at which another girl walked over. 

She was a bit shorter that Nadia, and had similarly golden-brown skin with a small nose, and hazel eyes. She wore a fringed white hijab, with emerald green polka-dots, which she pulled off remarkably well, considering, what Regulus thought to be, a rather hideous pattern. 

She spoke up, with a soft, airy voice, “Hi, I’m Fazia.”

“Hi Fazia,” Lily said, which Regulus and Remus subsequently repeated. Seneca gave her a small wave, which she returned, and then sat down in between Lily and Nadia. 

The rest of supper went by remarkably quietly, even though Remus continued to stare at the two other boys from across the table. 

Regulus distracted himself by looking around the Great Hall, and it wasn’t that long before he realized that there couldn’t have been more than fifty students in the room, restricted to roughly eight tables, instead of the usual several dozen. As soon as dinner ended, the Gryffindors waved goodbye, except for Remus, who narrowed his eyes at the two of them one last time. 

“Spend the night in my dorm?” Seneca asked, cautiously.

Regulus blanched, “Someone will see me.”

“No, they won’t. No one’s staying in my dorm room, and I can probably sneak you through the common room pretty easily. Let's just get what you need from your dorm, and then we can go.”

Regulus rolled his eyes, although he was still shaken. 

Secretly, he had hoped Seneca would ask, because he couldn’t stand sleeping in the dorms by himself. His dreams were very vivid, and usually tended to be of his parents; they weren’t something he would want to go through alone. 

The two made their way down to the cold, damp corridors of the Slytherin hallway, and Seneca waited outside while Regulus went to retrieve his things. 

He decided to only grab an outfit change for the next day, and his toothbrush, and left as quickly as he could. Although he couldn’t see anyone else in the common room, it hadn’t meant they weren’t there. 

“All ready?” Seneca said. 

Regulus gave a curt nod, and then they started the trek up to Ravenclaw tower, climbing the dozen different flights of steps on their way up. 

Finally, they arrived in front of the usual spiral staircase that led up to the dorms. 

“Alright, so just follow after me? Okay?” Seneca asked. 

Regulus wiped all visible hints of worry off his face, and nodded enthusiastically, even though he felt like he might melt on the spot at any given moment. 

He followed the taller boy up the stairs, and after Seneca answered the Eagle’s riddle, the door rotated open, and the two entered the common room. Regulus instinctively shrunk behind Seneca, but when he didn’t see anyone, he reemerged. 

“See, you’re fine,” Seneca said, with a small laugh. Regulus gave him a dry smile, before asking “Where’s your dorm? Let’s get inside. Now.”

Seneca laughed again, and the two made their way up the steps and through a small door. Regulus was immediately jealous of Seneca, yet again. 

“You get so much light! And it’s so bright and happy in here!” 

Seneca made a concerned face at that, “Is it not in the Slytherin dorms?”

Regulus shook his head vigorously in response, “The only natural light we have is from the lake, and even that is barely any. Plus, we don’t have a fireplace either. It’s pretty cold and damp.”

Seneca reddened, “Why the  _ fuck _ do you have to deal with so much shit. It’s infuriating.”

Not wanting to be subjected to another one of his rants, Regulus said, “Well, I had best get ready for bed now.”

“Of course, me too,” Seneca said, his expression clearing. 

After they were both entirely ready to go to bed, they were faced with the dilemma of the sleeping situation. 

“So… you can either sleep in someone else’s bed, or we can share,” Seneca said, cautiously. 

Seeing as the beds were at least double-sized, Regulus said, “Oh, it’s more than enough room, we’ll be fine.”

Seneca smirked, but went pale when Regulus said, “No funny business though.”

“What’s wrong”

Seneca looked up at him, sadly, “I wouldn’t do anything if you didn’t clear it first, I hope you know that.”

“Of course I do,” Regulus said, his tone softening, before he continued, “Let’s go to sleep now. I’m quite tired.”

Seneca nodded, and the two awkwardly pulled themselves under the covers, their backs facing each other. 

Before too long, Regulus was cold, and he whispered, “I’m freezing. Can you hug me?”

At first, he didn’t hear any response, but then he felt a pair of warm hands, and then an entire warm body press up against his back. 

Finally comfortable, he smiled and drifted off to sleep.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Seneca awoke to sunlight streaming in through the many windows of the dorm. 

Feeling his arms still wrapped around Regulus, he slowly peeled away from the other boy, and sat up. 

He silently yawned, and then looked down at Regulus, and his heart soared. 

Every moment with Regulus was a gift; several months ago, he could never have imagined being in this situation. 

Regulus looked absolutely ethereal as he lay there on the bed, his dark hair fanned out from his head, and a small smile danced across his face. Light from the windows beamed onto his nose and lips, accentuating his facial structure.    


Seneca smiled, and then slowly got out of bed, before quietly making his way into the bathroom, and running a hot shower. 

After he had gotten out of the bathroom, he found Regulus sitting on the front of the bed, with a new outfit donned, and his face visibly freshened. 

“Did you use the sink while I was in the shower?” Seneca asked. 

Regulus just nodded, before saying “Let’s go. Breakfast starts soon, and I don’t plan on getting caught. 

Seneca rolled his eyes, and ran his fingers through his hair, performing a wandless drying spell. 

“You’re going to be caught one day, you know.”

“I doubt it,” Seneca said, with a smile, and then cracked open the door, checking the common room, “I don’t see anyone.”

Regulus immediately sat up, leaving the few belongings he had brought on the bed.

“Planning on staying here again?” Seneca asked. 

“Mayhaps,” Regulus responded, casually. 

Seneca crept out of the room, taking Regulus out onto the balcony. The two then crept down the steps, and as soon as they were at the bottom of the staircase, he broke out into laughter. 

“What’s so funny?” Regulus asked. 

Seneca recomposed himself, and said, “You looked  _ so  _ scared, yet there’s probably no one awake yet. It’s only 8 o’clock, I doubt anyone has woken up yet.”

As soon as he took a step forward, Seneca felt an invisible hand around his forearm, and his blood ran cold. 

“What the  _ fuck _ ?” he exclaimed.

“What?” Regulus asked, in concern. 

Remus all of sudden appeared in front of them, whipping off the invisibility cloak. 

“How the hell did you get that?” Seneca asked, while Regulus just looked on in utter confusion. 

“James forgot it here, as usual. But the main question is what the  _ fuck _ are you doing together?” Remus asked, incredulously. 

“None of your business,” Seneca spat, unusually aggressively. 

Regulus stepped forward, still eyeing the cloak with apparent interest, “It’s fine. Tell him. He clearly needs to know  _ so badly _ .”

Remus glared at him, before continuing, “Sirius just means a lot to me. I don’t want him to get hurt.”

“You don’t want  _ him _ to get hurt?” Seneca asked, “Are you kidding me? Do you see the way he treats Regulus?”

“Is it not deserved?”

“ _ No? _ He’s hurt him multiple times, completely ignored him for months at a time, and refuses to see anything from a perspective other than his own. It’s astounding how many excuses you’ll make up for him, yet continuously attack everyone else that  _ dares  _ to make something uncomfortable for him.”

Remus reddened, “That’s not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean?” Regulus asked, sharply.

“I just want to know what’s happening between you two.”

“Frankly, we don’t know either,” Seneca snapped, “But if you must know, we’re together to some degree.”

“Like Dorcas and Marlene?” Remus asked. 

“And?” Seneca asked, probing the boy for a reaction. 

“Nothing. Good for you I guess. I’m getting breakfast now, and if I don’t  _ attack  _ you again, I would ask for you to come sit with me and Lily.”

“Fine,” Seneca said, “Reg, let’s go with him.”

Regulus gritted his teeth, and followed the two down the stairs, still visibly deep in thought.

When they arrived at breakfast, Lily looked up at them originally with a smile, which faded quickly when she saw their expressions, “What happened?”

“Nothing,” Remus said quietly. 

“Mr. Lupin here just had to know what my  _ relations _ with Regulus are.”

Lily smiled slightly, “Took him long enough.”

“You knew?” Remus asked, in confusion. 

She cocked her head at him, and smiled quietly. 

“Whatever,” Remus muttered, and summoned his food for breakfast. 

The rest of the day went by uncomfortably quietly, with Seneca and Regulus spending much of their time in the library. They ran into Nadia and Fazia at lunch, and the two girls spent much of the time talking to the other four students about their latest project they were working on in Care of Magical Creatures, which happened to be Nadia’s favorite class. 

Dinner was similarly quiet, and as Seneca and Regulus left to return to Ravenclaw Tower, they were stopped by Remus. 

“Oi, you two,” he shouted, as loudly as he could, without being overheard.    
“Yes?” Seneca questioned, turning around to face him. 

He shuffled closer, and wrung his hands, “Listen, I’m really sorry about the way I… confronted you earlier. I just… I care about Sirius a lot.”

“Yeah… we know,” Seneca said, with a small laugh. 

Regulus furrowed his brows at that, but didn’t mention anything. 

“It’s just that.. I don’t want him to ruin his friendship with you. Or, rather, I don’t want you to be subjected to his wrath. It’s not something you’d want to endure,” Remus said, with a shudder. 

“Obviously,” Regulus muttered. 

Remus gave him an odd look, before saying, “Well, anyways, I hope all of our problems are sorted now.”

“Of course,” Seneca said, still eyeing Regulus carefully. 

“Well, I had best be leaving now. Bye,” Remus said, walking off towards Gryffindor tower. 

“He… he likes Sirius? He’s a pouf?” Regulus asked, quietly.    
“Regulus… if he’s a ‘pouf’ then you are too. You’re a guy, and I’m a guy. There’s nothing wrong with it.”

“Well, yes, but, it’s not the proper way. It’s not what is… acceptable… in Wizarding society.”

“Well then we can make it acceptable.”

Regulus gave him a faint smile, and the two made their way up to bed. 

The rest of the week went by similarly, with relatively quiet meals, and days spent around the ground and in the library. Regulus continued to sleep in the Ravenclaw dorms, and had somehow miraculously not been seen by any other students. 

On Christmas Eve, a small package arrived for Seneca while he and Regulus were relaxing on the bed. A slight frigid breeze blew in through the cold window as the Locklear’s family owl dropped the package on the bed sheets, and Regulus pet her while Seneca went to fetch an owl treat. 

“What do you think it is?” Regulus asked. 

“Probably just some money or food,” Seneca responded, “My family doesn’t really celebrate Christmas, aside from the decorating.”

“Oh. I usually have dinner with my cousins, but the house is never decorated.”

Seneca smiled as he fed the owl and coaxed her out of the window, which he had reopened, “Opposite childhoods I guess.”

“You can say that again,” Regulus muttered.    
Seneca responded by looping an arm around Regulus’ shoulders, “It’s okay, you don’t have to go back to them. You can always come to live with me.”   
Regulus sharply pulled away, “You know I can’t do that.”

“Why not though?”

“They’re my family. I can’t leave them. They’re the only ones that make me feel like I matter.”

“What about me?”

Regulus leaned back in, rolling his eyes, “Well, obviously I care about your opinion. But family is different.”

“I see,” Seneca said, feigning betrayal. 

Regulus punched him in the arm playfully, “You ass.”

“The ass you love,” Seneca crooned.

“Shut up,” Regulus laughed.

“Whatever. Let’s go down to dinner now.”

“You swear no one will see me?”

“Of course. Most everyone is probably in the Great Hall already anyways.”

“If you say so.”

“I do say so,” Seneca smiled, at which Regulus shoved him away. The two then got up, and made their way out through the common room, and down through the corridors and stairs of the castle.

There was frost on the windows, and evergreen garlands were wrapped around the railings and columns all throughout the castle. Snow was piled in drifts outside, and in the distance, Seneca could see the Black Lake frozen over. 

Even though Hogwarts was far emptier than usual, the school still retained its usual feeling of warmth and conviviality, and there was a strong smell of food emanating from the kitchens, which the few Hufflepuffs that had stayed back for break were clearly thankful for, as their dorms were located in close proximity to the kitchens. 

Seneca and Regulus emerged into the hall, and moved to go sit with Remus and Lily, who were already waiting for them. There had been one long table set up in the middle of the hall, with enough seats for every student that was staying back, plus the professors and staff. 

The ceiling was draped with more garlands than Seneca had ever seen in his life, and the artificial sky was made to look like a snowstorm. 

As they made their way over, Regulus shied away from, and falsely tried to pretend like he didn’t know Seneca. 

“Reg, the few Slytherin’s here either don’t care, or they’re so young that no one will care what they have to say. Plus, you’ve been sitting with us for almost all of the hols now, it’s useless to back out now.”

Regulus grimaced, and clutched Seneca’s wrist, “If you say so.”

They ended up sitting at one of the far ends of the table, with Professor McGonagall seated at the head of that end, and Dumbledore at the other. 

Their conversation was carried on in whispered tones and stifled giggles until Minerva rolled her eyes and moved over to sit next to Madame Pomfrey, allowing for the four of them to talk normally. 

The feast was quite delicious, and one of the most extravagant the four had ever seen. It seemed to Seneca that there was far too much food for the roughly five or six dozen people that remained at the school, but he figured that it would be taken care of, as nearly everything at Hogwarts was. 

At 8 o’clock, Dumbledore stood up, and gave a seemingly enlightened speech, although it was quite rambling and altogether made almost no sense, before dismissing the students back to “Whichever dorms they plan on sleeping in”.

Regulus grew panicked at that, whispering that “Dumbledore must know”.

Seneca shrugged off his concerns, and the two made their way to Gryffindor Tower with Lily and Remus. 

After several rounds of Wizard Chess, during which Regulus mostly sat off to the side, fidgeting, while the others played, the two non-Gryffindors made their way back to Seneca’s dorm. 

The lights in the Ravenclaw dormitory were already dimmed, so it was easy for them to sneak across the common room, and up to the bedroom.

The next week and a half went by far faster than Seneca could’ve anticipated. 

Just like they had done the weeks before, Seneca and Regulus spent much of their time in the library studying and reading, although this time they were frequently joined by Remus and Lily, much to Regulus’ initial discomfort. 

It continued to snow outside, and New Years Eve arrived seemingly without warning. 

A small feast, although not matching the caliber of that on Christmas Eve and Day, was held in the Great Hall, after which Seneca and Regulus shared a chaste kiss in the moonlit hallway. Seneca went to a party in the Hufflepuff dorms, while Regulus went to bed early, not wanting to socialize. 

The party itself was actually quite fun, but Seneca ended up returning early, having been lonely without the other boy. 

When he arrived back at the dorm, Regulus used the coldness of the stone room as an excuse to cuddle in their bed, so Seneca indulged his requests, acting as if he, too, had been cold, and not like he wanted to hug Regulus the whole time. 

The next few days left of break were spent mostly with just the two of them, although just like before, Remus and Lily were a common presence. 

After a bit, Seneca had managed to coax Regulus into practicing on the Quidditch pitch, even after multiple worried postulations of being seen together. He found the the other boy’s skills were much better than he exhibited during the games, and judging by Regulus’ character, Seneca determined that it was likely because of his intense self-consciousness and near-omnipresent fear of those around him, which just made him even more sympathetic for the other boy. He had gone through so much at home, and every day, it took from him. 

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One day, when it was clear outside, Seneca convinced Regulus to join him and the other students for a snowball fight in the main courtyard, by the viaduct. At first, Regulus was apprehensive, and as the two made their way down, he struggled to zip up his winter coat, which he had fetched from the Slytherin common room. 

“You know, you’re really lucky that no one saw me.”

Seneca just smiled in response, before asking, “Do you really need a coat that big? There are always warming and drying spells.”

Regulus shook his head, he felt safer with the coat on; he felt like it protected him, but he wasn’t going to say that.

Seneca rolled his eyes, “Alright then.”

Trying to move past Seneca’s questionnaire, Regulus asked, “How exactly do we play? And who organized it.”

“Apparently the Hufflepuffs started it, but it’s not really decided by any one person. Plus, it’s the last day of break, so everyone wants to have fun again before school starts; the train is bringing everyone else back tonight.”

“But how do I play?”

“Oh, right, sorry, um.. There aren’t really set rules. You kind of just.. try to hit everyone else with the snowballs and don’t get hit yourself.”

Regulus shrugged it off, and then the two emerged into the courtyard. Nearly everyone that was staying back was out there, and Regulus didn’t miss the odd looks he got from the other Slytherins, having emerged hand in hand with Seneca. He quickly dropped the other boy’s hand, but it was too late, the damage was already done; he felt a constricting feeling in his heart. 

Seemingly noticing his discomfort, Seneca ushered him over to Lily and Remus, who were busy stockpiling snowballs behind one of the walls.    
“Oi, when’re we starting?” Seneca shouted. 

“Soon as the clock strikes noon,” Lily responded. Regulus just kind of stood there, and watched as Seneca joined in, making his own pile of snowballs. 

“Come on, Reg,” Seneca coaxed, at which Remus gave them an odd look, clearly still not trusting Regulus completely. 

Regulus sat down next to Seneca, and almost immediately after he was finally able to shape just one snowy sphere, the clock rang. 

All hell broke loose, and Regulus immediately took shelter behind a column. A hufflepuff girl was chasing a much older Slytherin boy down the viaduct, repeatedly pelting him with particularly icy snowballs as he ran. Two ravenclaw girls were busy throwing snow in each other's faces, and it appeared that nearly everyone was covered in snow. All of sudden, Regulus felt a cold smack on his back, and turned to see Seneca grinning at him.

“You  _ absolute arse _ ,” he started, only to feel the same sensation on his back again. He whipped around, and spotted Remus, who gave a slightly less genuinely smile, albeit still good-natured. 

Regulus immediately started throwing some of his own limited stockpile at the two of them, and a smile absentmindedly grew on his face. 

Eventually, the game wound down, and as people started to filter out, Regulus made his way back to the Ravenclaw common room with Seneca. 

He gathered up his things, and Seneca performed several wandless charms on his coat, so that it looked and felt brand new. 

“Well, I guess this is goodbye, for a bit,” Regulus stated sadly. 

“It doesn’t have to be,” Seneca said, hopefully. 

“What else could it be, then?” 

“I don’t know.”

“We can… um.. Do something on the next Hogsmeade weekend. But I need to concentrate on Quidditch and School, without the added threat of being outed to my family, okay?”

“Yeah, totally understandable. Just remember, you’re always welcome at my house.”

“I know,” Regulus said softly, and then left the room, quietly creeping through the Ravenclaw common room with a small bag of his belongings. 

He slowly made his way down into the dungeons, and could easily feel the air get colder and more moist as he went deeper into the school. It felt compressing, and he wanted to spin on his heel and run back up to Ravenclaw Tower, but he reminded himself that he couldn’t.

He entered the Slytherin common room, and glared at the green drapes and seagrass-covered windows, before walking across the room to one of the many doors, the one that opened to his dorm room. 

After sitting in his bed for quite some time, Regulus decided that it was time to head upstairs, and sure enough, as soon as he entered the hall, he was accosted by Barty, who grabbed him by the shoulders, asking him about break, as he made his way over to their usual Slytherin-only table. 

Regulus exchanged a sad look with Seneca, before sitting down, and preparing to endure yet another series of months of misery. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah so this might not be my best work, but whatever I’m too tired and I lack any motivation to change it so whatever   
> Anyways I’m hoping to finish fifth year this weekend (five day weekend woohoo) but then again I clearly can't be held to deadlines soooooo


	15. Temporary Update

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Work on hold

Soooooo  
I've lost all motivation to write this fic and I genuinely don't know why. I'm going to be starting on a Jegulus fic very soon, so there will be that in the meantime. I'll still be updating this, but new chapters won't be regular and I can't say for sure when the next one will be.   
Anyways, if you saw plans for future hedric/linny stuff, ignore that, I scrapped those plans and moved them to the Jegulus fic. 

Sorry, I really hate burnout.


End file.
